Favourite Films

TV to Watch: Friday Night Lights

By
13/02/12

Sky Atlantic had its first anniversary last week, and in that time the channel has shown a wide range of critically acclaimed US shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Six Feet Under and Game of Thrones. Starting on Sky Atlantic tomorrow (14th) is probably my favourite US show of all time (bold statement I know), and that is Friday Night Lights. The show previously aired it’s first two seasons on ITV4 but now you will be able to watch the complete series for the first time in the UK (outside of watching the Region 1 DVDs as I did). Spanning five seasons Friday Night Lights explores the world of high school football in Dillon, Texas; a small town that thrives on football and worships the teenagers that play for the Dillon Panthers. So why should you watch it?

First of all it doesn’t matter if you have zero knowledge or interest in American football. I knew very little about the sport when I started watching the show, and five seasons later I know not much more about the rules of the game. Take it like this; you don’t need to be an expert in drug distribution or police surveillance work to enjoy The Wire and the same goes for the American football backdrop in FNL. It is part of the fabric of the show but it isn’t necessarily the real focus; the community, the kids in the team and family life is what matters here.

Friday Night Lights began as a book that tells the story of a high school team in Odessa, Texas in 1988 that was then adapted for the big screen by Peter Berg in 2004. The film scored an impressive five stars from Empire Magazine but didn’t even make $1 million in the UK (it made $61 million in the US). This is likely through poor distribution thanks to the American sport centric theme and a similar pattern can be seen with the recent baseball movie Moneyball, which despite awards buzz and a big name star with Brad Pitt, only made just over $1 million in the UK (and $75 million in the US). Sports themed movies are a hard sell if the sport isn’t popular, and this is probably why it has taken so long for FNL to properly hit UK screens at primetime. The show struggled for ratings in the US even, despite being a critical darling. It was only in its fifth and final season that the award nominations finally starting coming in, with Kyle Chandler (Super 8, King Kong) winning Best Actor at the 2011 Emmys for his role as Coach Eric Taylor.



At the centre of it all is Coach Eric Taylor and his wife Tami Taylor (Connie Britton -Spin City, American Horror Story) who are one of the best representations of a married couple to grace the screen, big or small. They fight, they laugh, they talk like real people and they also care about their jobs and the kids that they work with. Connie Britton played the role of the coach’s wife in the film Friday Night Lights and didn’t want to initially take the TV role, as her part in the film had been cut to shreds. Creator and director Peter Berg assured her this wouldn’t happen again, and he was correct as Tami Taylor is one of the strongest female characters that TV has ever seen. Coach Taylor is often a man of very few words, but when it comes to inspirational speeches he is king, and they will possibly leave you a little misty eyed.

The show is shot in a somewhat documentarian style, with the first episode really evoking this method. It’s not all shaky cam though so don’t worry about that. It is just something that adds to the realism. Shot on location in Austin, Texas, you get the sense of what this community is like and several of the minor speaking roles are played by non-actors; including the pastor and a jewellery shop owner adding to the authentic Texan feeling.

As it is set in a high school, you would expect a roster of stereotypical characters; the lead quarterback douchebag, the head cheerleader bitch, the bad boy, the arrogant one, the arty one, the one who doesn’t care about football, the slut and the nerd. While elements of all these characters exist, they play on these stereotypical elements; turning them on their head rather than having it as a central characteristic. Certain high school experiences are featured such as first loves won and lost, as well as social issues such as racism, financial woes and abortion. Don’t worry, it’s not an after school special and doesn’t lean towards the preachy.

Will you be watching? Have you seen the show before and want to watch it all over again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Friday Night Lights begins on Sky Atlantic Tuesday, February 14 at 8pm and you can watch the trailer here.

“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!”

BAFTA Awards 2012

By
13/02/12

Thankfully, the commissioners at the BBC finally got their act together and convinced Steven Fry to return to BAFTA hosting duties after a five year sabbatical. Replacing Jonathan Ross (host for the last five years), Fry gave the award ceremony an immediate sense of class and authority, and with Billy Crystal back as Oscars host (a last minute substitute for Eddie Murphy) it looks like this years award shows are keen to at least get some things right.

I know. I’m standing on the border of cliché town but don’t worry, I’m not going to the gift shop and I certainly won’t be buying the T-shirt. Of course, as a disgruntled film studies grad and a multi-award winning film geek, there are going to be some awards that I disagree with and some I down right cannot understand. Having said all that, for the most part, I can at least see the reasoning behind most of the Academy’s choices. For those of you who came here before going to IMDB. Here’s my thoughts on last nights winners and losers. Most news shows today will be regurgitating their post-Golden Globe platitudes as once again, the dominant film of the night by some distance was of course, The Artist.

Jean Dujardin does his best trophy impression

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On Roman Polanski & Carnage

By
02/02/12

It’s hard to fathom that Roman Polanski has been making films for 50 years now. His early output was a revelation, making a name for himself with a unique brand of taut claustrophobic thrillers (See Knife in the Water/Repulsion). Seething with a palpable sense of anxiety, Polanski pushed his subjects to psychological breaking point with the enclosed surroundings amplifying the tension to almost unbearable levels. In short, they were bad places to be, especially if you happened to advocate bourgeois values. Downton Abbey, had it been made in 1960′s Poland probably would have had the entire cast holed up, soiled knickers and all, in the study with wolves roaming the corridors. It was in its mockery of the Bourgeoisie that European cinema was in its element. While never overtly political, Polanski revelled in using them as fodder. Even through visions of the American dream in Rosemary’s Baby & Chinatown, widely considered all-time greats, many of the hallmarks of his previous work shine through.
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Blu-ray Preview: 30/1/2012

By
25/01/12

Unlike last week’s parade of mostly bland box office dead weight, this week sees a number of highly anticipated new Blu-ray releases. With numerous quality titles for your delectation, the end of January could bring with it some financial difficulties for those of us with a pathological need to ‘collect’.

First up this week is Nicholas Winding Refn’s 70’s throwback Drive.
Ryan Gosling - Poster boy
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Blu-ray Preview: 23/1/12

By
17/01/12

Only those closest to me know that my full name is actually Bernard Lewis Raymond Swift. So, when Sony offered to name their latest technological leap after me, I was incredibly flattered. After a brief market scrap with the boringly titled HD DVD, B-Lew-Ray became the dominant HD home entertainment format of choice ,and as prices drop, the format is threatening to overtake DVD as the new standard.

Of course, fifty percent of that last paragraph was bull shit but I promise that what follows will be a combination of facts and personal opinions that will hopefully allow you to optomise your spending in this period of economic crisis. As you might expect, the weeks directly following the festive period tend to be a little thin on the ground regarding big releases but there is at least, this coming week, a vast cocktail of titles coming your way.
B-Lew-Ray
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Five to watch out for in 2012

By
11/01/12

The Dark Knight Rises

The summer big noises speak for themselves;
Early glimpses of The Dark Knight Rises and Ridley Scott’s return to the Alien universe with Prometheus in IMAX & 3D respectively, look certain to be the years most complete cinematic experiences.
Elsewhere, you have a bumper fix of Marvel comic book action as the superhero equivalent of The Breakfast Club finally arrives in the form of The Avengers ,as well as a reboot of the oh so profitable Spider-Man franchise. Autumn/Winter will bring us Sam Mendes’ contribution to the Bond series in Skyfall, Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth in The Hobbit, ‘Tarantino does a western’ in Django Unchained and Baz Luhrmann’s intriguing 3D take on The Great Gatsby. There is plenty more to be excited about in 2012, but here are my ones to watch in the coming year:
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Jean Dujardin: Is History On His Side?

By
10/01/12

There’s been substantial debate amongst my peers and I, as to whether or not Jean Dujardin could actually win the Best Actor Oscar. As we await this years nominations it’s safe to say he’s going to be up against it. If the Golden globes are anything to go by he’s likely to be up against five of the biggest names in the business. Whilst Dujardin should walk the Globes only ‘Comedy Musical category’ when the Academy inevitably make their selection from the Globes’ ten, the Frenchman is going to have to userp one of either Clooney, Pitt, DiCaprio, Gosling or Fassbender in order to make the final five. It’s a tough ask but it made me curious about just how often international performances are recognised by the academy. What follows is the fruits of my diligent labour which I have collated for your statistical pleasure.
Dujardin at Cannes

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2012: An Alternative Preview

By
28/12/11

With the new year just around the corner every movie mag, website and jaded film studies graduate will be spouting off about which films you should be getting excited about next year. In my extensive (read ‘not very extensive’) research, most articles seem to be understandably focussing on the same five or six movies (Spiderman, Hobbit, Avengers, Prometheus, Hunger Games, Dark Knight etc). Here at This Film Is On however, we like to do things a bit differently (Just look at Owen’s beard). So, with all this in mind here’s five films that you’ve probably already heard about but have hopefully forgotten about.
2012
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My Film of the Year by Lewis Swift

By
20/12/11

2011 has been a weird year for cinema. Lars Von Trier admitted to being a Nazi, A werewolf fell in love with a baby in a 12A and one of the best films of the year was a documentary (Senna), WTF right? All this has meant that choosing one film to crown as my annual favourite has been even harder than usual. Then there’s the films I haven’t even seen yet; Take Shelter, Money ball and The Artist could all as yet take the crown but for now they’ll have to wait.

Submarine - Welsh New Wave

To make the task arbitrarily easier I have also discounted those movies decorated by the Academy earlier on in the year. Using my dog eared collection of ticket stubs I whittled the list down to fifteen movies then to ten, then to three, then finally to one.  The ticket that remained read simply ‘Submarine’.

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ThisFilmIsOn Rises… as does The Dark Knight

By
19/12/11

In the words of Rakim and Eric B, “It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you, without a strong rhyme to step to”. Well, maybe not “rhyme”, but “insightful, occasionally humourous, entirely unedited movie opinion” to step to. So after almost a full year away, we’re back. Like The Dark Knight, bread in the oven and my penis when I see Anne Hathaway, ThisFilmIsOn will rise once more.

TDKR

And quite frankly we couldn’t be back for a better year. 2012 may not provide the culmination of all human history but if it did, and as long as the big movies of the year live up to expectation, it wouldn’t be a bad way to go. Prometheus, The Amazing Spider-man, The Hobbit, The Avengers, The Dark Knight and that’s just the multiplex nomming blockbusters.

Elsewhere we’ll have new Coens (Gambit), new Pixar (Brave), Cameron Crowe’s latest (We Bought A Zoo), hopefully some more Charlie Kaufman and a film based on an internet meme about a time-travelling nutjob. If that’s a success then it won’t be long before Missing Missy makes the bigscreen. To start the year you also get The Muppets. Which I’ve seen and can confirm is as heart-tuggingly lovely as a furry, felt aorta massage.

But right now, It’s all about one thing…Batman! Enjoy the latest trailer below. Just don’t think about the half a year you have to survive before you get to see the damn thing.

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