Chris Blaine

Is Malick Bay? Is Bay Malick?

Chris — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:54:30 +0000

I had the strangest sensation the other day. Having just watched Terrence Malick’s “The Tree Of Life” I was left with the exact same feeling I had when coming out of the Odeon Leicester Square last year, having watched “Transformers 3”.

They seem incredibly similar to me. Is Malick is becoming Michael Bay? Or is it the other way round?

Both have soundtracks full of bombast. Both are sparse on spoken words. Tree Of Life even told me to turn up my DVD sound system LOUD – something I’d expect from Bay. Both are cut to fuck. Both are centred around young men being dislikable even if we are supposed to sympathise. Both young men aren’t quite up to doing the manly things they want to. Both films objectify a woman – Bay by picturing wotserface’s arse in full 3D close-up, Malick by endlessly porning over Jessica Chastain’s feet.

Both supposedly showed new ways of making cinema – one by groundbreaking use of 3D (the trick to 3D, it seems, according to Bay, is to make it seem as much like 2D as possible, even using 2D for close-ups instead), one by making a three hour music video using some of the greatest composers to have lived as its mixtape (best bit – kids being born, growing up, genuinely had me hooked). Both have been made in the edit suite, more than in the script. Both are epic in scope – both go into space, both traverse the globe. Both expend a lot of energy showing its audience just how little power we little humans have over anything, ever (Shia is forever about to be squashed, Brad never makes it big). Both view our huge architecture as merely temporary in the scheme of things.

Are they both trying to tell us the same thing? Both are definitely more interested in creating feeling and sensation than in explaining any rudimentary sense of what happened where and how. And yet, and yet… both bored me senseless.

Ok, so there are differences.

One has robots, the other has dinosaurs.

One is rubbish because it pays scant attention to plot, rubbish because it spends too much time with CGI FX instead of giving us story and character, rubbish because it bombards the eyes and ears. The other is made by Michael Bay. Or is it the other way round? I must admit to feeling confused…

Merry Christmas Everybody.

Chris — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:13:39 +0000

Normally Ben and I try to do some sort of Christmas card but this year we’ve just been rather too busy – luckily with the Christmas special of “The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff” which will screen this evening on BBC2 at 8.30pm (and will be repeated on the 29th) – so count this as your Christmas card please!

The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff on BBC iPlayer

We’re off to LA.

Chris — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:35:31 +0000

We’ve never been before. Lots of people have gotten very excited for us and told us where we simply must see. However we’re trying to get a feature script finished before we have to a) start on the next one in October, b) rewrite a different one, also in October and c) start work on the edit of Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff, the upcoming BBC2 comedy series which premieres with a Christmas Eve special starring Stephen Fry. Set in a Dickensian Victorian London it’s hugely ambitious and lots of fun. And we start work on it… in October.

So LA is a place to meet as many people as we can and push Hallo Panda and talk to actors and managers and agents and execs and not so much to go and see Universal Studios. The Ken Block tour we may have time for though.

Skip to 1min30sec to avoid the titles and get down to it. Enjoy. Jumping gorillas!

Think Shoot Distribute

Chris — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:02:13 +0000

I can highly recommend this. Five days during the London Film Festival with a roomful of your peers and talks by people who are generally about to or already have released their latest film, either at the festival or in the cinemas at large. The talks are interesting and arresting and you hear stuff you’d not get to hear outside of those walls, but the big thing is to increase your social circle. Friendships can be forged here, without the stiff nonsense that is the networking party. We’re working with Cassandra Sigsgaard on Hallo Panda thanks to meeting her when we were on Think Shoot Distribute, and we’re friends with many cool and exciting writers and directors thanks to spending time with them there also. That year Cass was the only producer in the room, but they have steadily increased in number until hopefully this year they’ll be in double figures. So it’s well worth putting in for. Back when we applied, there were still regional agencies who’d put money up for it. I’ve no idea where you could get it paid for now (Skillset?) but do apply, it’s worth it. Press release beneath:

Call for Applications: Think-Shoot-Distribute 2011
The 55th BFI London Film Festival is looking for 25 talented and experienced people, working in short film, documentary, TV, theatre, digital media, games, arts or commercials, who are seeking to develop a career in feature film, for Think-Shoot-Distribute 2011, the festival’s talent development scheme. They will take part in a 5-day training programme (17-21 October) where they will meet leading filmmakers and executives in workshops, discussions and master-classes exploring all areas of making feature films and the industry. Participants will also take part in 121 sessions with course leaders and industry guests during the training week and over the following months.

Think-Shoot-Distribute is supported by Skillset through the Skillset Film Skills Fund, Adobe and The Hospital Club.

More information, guidelines and online application at: http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/TSD

Follow us on Twitter: @TSDfilm

Application deadline: 12.00pm, Friday 23 September 2011

Cost: £300 / £200 concessions