After the absolute rubbish that was Public Enemies, I took myself once again to the Duke of York’s to see Mesrine: Killer Instinct, the first of a two-part biopic about the life of France’s most notorious gangster, Jacques Mesrine. I already had high expectations of Vincent Cassel’s performance playing the criminal after loving him in La Haine and Irreversible, but then again, Johnny Depp of Public Enemies had quite a good track record of films himself, and look at the shambles of a film he ended up in! (Actually, you know what, don’t look… The thing that’s so frustrating about Public Enemies is that the cinematography and set design is breathtaking, so to then find an empty, soulless screenplay coupled with a badly designed narrative, you’re just going to be left bashing you’re head against the wall!)

Anyway, unlike Public Enemies, Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (2^nd part which soon came out after Killer Instinct) were amazing. The screenplays and narratives were well designed and constantly had the viewers on the edge of their seats, always interested and eager to know what happens next. The romances were believable and realistic (Ol’ Jacques was a right stud by the looks of things, but then I suppose all gangsters are.) The prison escapes were so exciting, well thought out, and always having the perfect balance of humour, violence and tension. And Vincent Cassel’s performance is incredible. He seems to have really absorbed himself in the character and it comes so naturally to the screen. By the looks of things, Jacques Mesrine was a charismatic, funny guy. It always helps making a film about someone who is actually interesting; perhaps what went wrong with Public Enemies is that American criminal John Dillinger was just a boring man. Oh Johnny, it ain’t your fault you brought nothing to the screen! It’s not like you can make up Dillinger’s character yourself, it’s a Biopic for Christ’s sake!

I fancied Cassel in Mesrine. I’ve had this theory that if I can find an actor really attractive in one film and really unattractive in another, they must be good, cause they can actually mess with your hormones when they’re not even there! For example, in Fight Club I don’t fancy Edward Norton. But in ‘Down in the Valley’, it’s another story. And Marlon Brando; he reeks of sex in A Streetcar Named Desire, but then in Apocalypse Now, Oh No… To be fair, he’s fat and old in Apocalypse Now but you catch my drift.

The two-part biopic film that is Mesrine was bloody amazing and all of you out there that are lucky enough to have not seen it yet and have the whole adventure ahead of you, the double billing of it is being shown this Sunday, the 27^th September at the Duke of York’s at 1.30pm. Get your arses down there!

Words: Flaaars

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James Houston is really cool. He is producing some of the best and most original films and animations in this country at the moment. We first discovered him whilst sitting through hours of Vimeo videos one very stoned afternoon. ‘Big Ideas (Don’t Get Any)’ is an amazingly beautiful music video, cover of Radiohead’s ‘Nude’ played by a ZX Spectrum, an old Epsom printer, a scanner and an array of hard drives. Getting electronic equipment to play the instruments is genius in itself, but then the way it has been filmed is just the icing on the cake. Looking like across between the educational spoof ‘Look Around You’ and a Wes Anderson film Houston manages to create the perfect retro looking film, which just works so nicely with the electronic sounds. Last time I looked James had seven hundred and ninety-seven thousand plays for that video alone, which considering was his final piece for his degree show is not bad at all. We defiantly expect to see big things from him in the future.

Big Ideas (don’t get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

P.s. A little bird told me that James Houston and ‘Procrastination’ animator, Johnny Kelly will be working together on a new collaborative project. You heard it here first.

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