Coco Before Chanel (Coco avant Chanel) - Trailer

A little girl who is sent with her sister to an orphanage in the heart of France, who waits in vain every Sunday for her father to come for her. A cabaret performer with a weak voice who sings to an audience of drunken soldiers. A humble seamstress, who stitches hems at the back of a provincial tailor's shop. A young, skinny courtesan, to whom protector Etienne Balsan offers a safe haven, amongst the idle and decadent. A woman in love who knows she will never be anyone's wife, refusing marriage even to Boy Capel, the man who returned her love. A rebel who finds the conventions of her time oppressive, and instead dresses in her lovers' clothes.

This is the story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who begins her life as a headstrong orphan, and through an extraordinary journey becomes the legendary couturier who embodied the modern woman and became a timeless symbol of success, freedom and style.

Due out on the 31st July.

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Karl Malden has passed away

Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning actor whose intelligent characterizations on stage and screen made him a star despite his plain looks, died Wednesday, his family said. He was 97.

Malden died of natural causes surrounded by his family at his Brentwood home, they told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He served as the academy’s president from 1989-92.

The Streets of San Francisco star was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1912 and raised in Gary, Indiana - coincidentally the birthplace of Michael Jackson, who died last week.

A former steelworker and teacher, Malden studied acting at the Goodman Theater Dramatic School in Chicago and chose to take his talents to New York, where he became involved with the fabled Group Theater.

He made his stage debut in 1937 and struck up a theatrical partnership with legendary director Elia Kazan, who cast Malden in a host of successful Broadway shows.

After serving in World War Two, the actor landed his big movie break in 1940's They Knew What They Wanted and he quickly became an in-demand film star, winning an Oscar for his performance as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1951.

He also landed roles in classics like On the Waterfront and Baby Doll.

Malden became a household name in America when he teamed up with Michael Douglas in TV cop drama The Streets of San Francisco in the early 1970s.

He also became the pitchman for American Express - a position he held for 21 years.

In 1988, he was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - a title he held for five years.

Malden's memoir is called When Do I Start?: A Memoir.

As well as his Best Supporting Actor Oscar win in 1951, the actor also claimed an Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy in 1985 for the TV series Fatal Vision.

Malden was honoured with Life Achievement Awards at the Temecula Valley International Film Festival in 1998 and the Screen Actors Guild Awards of 2004.

His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame can be found at 6231 Hollywood Boulevard.

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Jeff Goldblum confirms his death

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Jeff Goldblum Will Be Missed
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UPDATED: Public Enemies - Press Conference Part 2 - Johnny Depp

I was going to do them in order with Michael Mann after Marion Cotillard's press conference, but then I thought I would do the actors first and the director last.

With all dictaphones at the ready Johnny Depp walked into the room. Yep he is as cool in real life as you expect him to be. Waistcoat, glasses and just looked cool. Walking to the podium he stopped and looked at the poster of himself. “It is entirely too large!” he proclaimed. You can see it in the footage I took below, the photos are also by me. Always near was the white haired Jerry Judge - Depp's long time assistant, minder and friend.

John Dillinger is an absolutely bona fide folk hero, but what was the draw of playing this outlaw whose name is virtually synonymous with the gun-slinging American past?

Well, first and foremost, when I was like 9 or 10 years old, I had a fascination with John Dillinger, I don't know why - and probably not a healthy one. I think it was something about the twinkle in his eye; there was something mischievous that intrigued me. But, in terms of taking on the role, the idea that the guy was called Public Enemy Number 1, but, if you really think about it, was never an enemy of the public. That I found intriguing and challenging.

What is it about this character of John Dillinger that you think fascinated the public? And, famously, he died after watching Manhattan Melodrama, what would be the film you'd like to watch before you died?

[Laughs] If I had to see a last-ever film, it would be Withnail & I. Without a doubt, no question Withnail and I!

I think, especially with a guy like John Dillinger, if you think about where we were in 1933 - well, it's not unlike where we are now. The banks were sort of the enemies, and it was taking the knees out from under everyone. Displacement was a kind way of putting it - their lives were being ripped from them. And there's JD, who arrives as one of those people who've been ten years in prison for some youthful, ignorant, drunken crime. Ten years, and he arrives on the scene in the ultimate existential arena, and says 'I'm gonna stand up against these people'. So I think, for me, what's fascinating is the guy who says 'I'm not gonna take it'.

[In reference to a short scene where JD sings the country standard The Last Roundup, after a jail break] First Sweeney Todd, and now this, it was almost as if you were looking to crowbar in some singing...

I almost broke into dance... I just might now!

Why not? Just wondering if you've been bitten by the singing bug?

I've only been bitten once, and it was an indirect bite. No, no, no. I sang the one time on Sweeney because, well, basically I had no choice.

But you sang well in this. I know it was only a few lines....

Oh, yeah! I do sing in the film - is it in? I haven't seen it!

Any recording contracts come your way yet?

You know, some people better stay in their own little arena. [laughs]

How did you research for the role? Did you watch previous films about him?

I certainly had a strong memory of Warren Oates' John Dillinger in the John Milius film [Dillinger, 1973]. But, I hadn't seen it in years. I do remember there was a certain palate that was limited. And I thought there were more colours to be offered - without being too esoteric about it. If you think about the information that has come out since - some of Dillinger's own words have surfaced. So there's a bit more to the story, a little more dimension. And that was what I was hoping for, to add some of that.

Stephen Graham [Baby Face Nelson in Public Enemies] over here is our rising star - how did you two get on?

We hated each other, and we fought constantly. [assembled journos laugh] I think he's magnificent, one of my favourite actors of all time. What he did in This is... [journos, in unison, 'England!'] England... absolutely destroyed me. What he did, and what Tomo did in that film of Shane Meadows', took me to my knees. He's someone I'm going to fight to get... I'm going to force him to be in every film I do - even at gunpoint!

You've mentioned you've not seen the film, and did a double-take at the poster as you came in - do you not like looking at yourself? And what's it like now that you're a big star?

If I can avoid the mirror when I brush my teeth in the morning, I will. I find security and safety in the most profound degree of ignorance. If you can just stay ignorant, almost everything will be ok. Just keep walking forward, and it's ok to notice things, and look at things, but, to judge things will bog you down. So I don't like watching myself in the movie, because I don't like to be aware of the product, I like the process. I enjoy that. That [pointing at the oversized poster] is... not my fault. I didn't do it!

In terms of your success, can you get your head around it? Did you think your time had come?

I went through 20 years of basically what the industry defined as failures. So for basically 20 years I was defined as box office poison. And I didn't change anything in terms of my process. That little film Pirates Of The Caribbean came around, and I thought yeah, that would be fun to play a pirate for my kiddies, and all that stuff. And I created the character in the same way I created all the other characters, and... nearly got fired. And thank god they didn't, because it changed my life. I'm hyper, super-thankful that radical turn happened, but it's not like I went out of my way to make it happen.

You've played a lot of real-life figures in Blow, and Donnie Brasco, and now in Public Enemies, what attracts you to that? And, who do you want to play next?

Yeah... who would I like to play next. I don't know, Carol Channing, maybe. I do like Carol Channing, very much! I mean, in the digital age... you can almost do anything. I could play a 12-year-old girl at this point - in the digital age!

But approaching someone like John Dillinger, as opposed to Jack Sparrow, is it as in-depth?

It is, it's even potentially more so, because of the amount of responsibility you have, to that person who actually did exist. There's some sense of responsibility to their legacy. With John Dillinger, there's an enormous amount of information on the guy - we know where he was at 12:02, when the banks were robbed. But there's a great gap with regard to who he was. There's footage of him, there's endless photographs of him - but there's no audio. There's just an attitude. So, that was the dig - how do I find this man, how do I find the way he speaks. And what made the connection for me was that John Dillinger was born in Indiana, and raised in Mooresville, Indiana, which was 2 hours from where I was born and raised. It was at that point that I thought - ah, I hear his voice now, now I know him, I know what he sounds like, because it's not all that different. He was my grandfather, who drove a bus in the day, and ran moonshine at night. He was my step-father, who did time at Statesville Penitentiary. I knew his voice then.

Looking at you in this film, you don't seem to have changed much over the years. Do you have any particular skin-care regime?

[Laughs] Clean living. Oh yeah, most definitely. I say if you could avoid wine, I'd do it. And liquor, definitely. Avoid liquor. Most definitely don't smoke - anything. And stay in your room. And watch a bit of reality television, that's how I do it.

Looking at the extraordinary range of characters that you've played so far. Which has been the closest to you personally, and which has been the furthest away?

Well, the furthest away - oh boy, probably a couple of them. But, furthest away... might be Willy Wonka [laughs]. Let's hope that's the furthest! Closest to me, this would be horrifically revealing, wouldn't it? There's probably three, Edward Scissorhands, John Wilmot from The Libertine, and maybe Dillinger.

There's a great attention to detail in the film, in terms of shooting in real locations. How does that affect your performance, to know you're in a location where Dillinger himself was?

That was one of the amazing things that Michael Mann provided us with, that level of authenticity, to be able to break through the exact doors that John Dillinger broke though. As opposed to shooting on some soundstage because it was cheaper or handier to the studio. Michael was a real stickler for that thing, and I will thank him forever for that. To be able to go and fire my Thompson out of the very window John Dillinger fired his Thompson out of during the gun battle at Little Bohemia. You can't put a price on that thing. To be able to walk in the same footsteps as he took, to walk outside the Biograph theatre, and land exactly to the tiny millimetre where John Dillinger's head fell, in the alley near the Biograph was magical. I mean, you almost feel him arriving. Not to be moony or spooky, but there were moments when I felt his presence, moments when I felt a certain amount of approval from the guy. When you're going to that umpteenth detail, something's going on.

How did you find working with Christian [Bale]? Are your acting styles quite different?

I don't know if our acting styles are that different...

Christian tends to stay in character, and kept up the Southern accent between takes...

Oh, yeah, that kind of thing. Yeah, well I don't do that. But, if you have to do that, that's ok. I enjoyed our - basically - one scene together, besides when he and his cronies croaked me outside the Biograph [laughs]. Yeah, it was the scene in the jail cell, and I enjoyed it very much, it was like, how'd you describe it, like a great sparring match. Two guys in there with a similar respect for one another, trying to present different angles to each other. Obviously he's a very gifted actor, and very talented. When we saw each other, which wasn't very much, we talked about our kids, just talked about being dads. And that's where we really connected.

Could you tell us about Michael Mann - how was his style of directing?

I think, ultimately, Michael's style and my approach did complement each other. There are moments where, when you're building something, there will be things discarded - things will get broken along the way. So it wasn't right off the bat the easiest, but in the long run, what we were able to figure out together, was that, he presents something, he'd present something - we'd find a happy middle, and we'd get there. And we always got there. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Michael, as a human being but also as a filmmaker - he's not joking, you know. He truly means it.

Then it was my turn to ask a question. The last one of Johnny's press conference. Nervously I asked:

How difficult was it to let go of Dillinger once filming finished? And which character over your career has it been hardest to say goodbye to?

There's been a few. The funny thing is, you really don't say goodbye. There's a little chest of drawers in here [points at chest], where you can always access these guys. I'm not sure if that's healthy, but they're there. Saying goodbye to Dillinger was tough, because it was like saying goodbye to a relative. The most difficult to say goodbye to? Well, Scissorhands was rough. The safety of allowing yourself to be that honest, to be that pure, to be that exposed. That was hard to say goodbye to. Wilmot, Lord Rochester, on The Libertine, was incredibly tough, because I felt like it was a very intense 40-something days where I had the opportunity to be that guy. And I felt a deep sense of responsibility, so it was like a marathon. And then, in the end, it was like the light goes out and it's black.

There you have it. One of the biggest stars in the World today answered one of my questions and was looking straight at me when he did. Never thought it would happen to me, but an amazing experience. Depp was funny, charming and coolness personified.

UPDATE: Here is some more video from the press conference. You can briefly see the back of my head round about the 1:39 mark, oh and Johnny Depp is there as well.

Part 1: Marion Cotillard

Part 2: Johnny Depp

Part 3: Michael Mann

Public Enemies review

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Second Skin - MMO Documentary

Second Skin takes an intimate, disturbing look at three sets of computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by online virtual worlds. An emerging genre of computer software called Massively Multiplayer Online games, or MMOs, allows millions of users to interact simultaneously in virtual spaces. Of the 50 million players worldwide, 50 percent consider themselves addicted. From individuals struggling with addiction to couples who have fallen in love without meeting; from disabled players whose lives have been given new purpose to gold farmers, entrepreneurs and widows, Second Skin opens viewers’ eyes to a phenomenon that may permanently change the way human beings interact — and with possibly devastating consequences.

Dan Bustard sacrificed everything to his MMO addiction. Dan, once a prosperous businessowner with a luxurious house, car and loving fiancé, ended up living in his nephew's empty basement, playing his game 20 hours a day and using soda bottles as toilets. Fearing death or destitution, Dan enrolled himself in The Safe Haven, a rehab center for online gamers. It proved to be “the worst mistake of my life. After fleeing The Haven, Dan returned to his nephew’s house only to relapse into his old habits. Gradually, he began a slow recovery, on his own terms. And as he begins to regain his old life, his nephew sinks deeper and deeper into his own MMO addiction, more severe than Dan’s, and with far more severe consequences.

Kevin Keel met Heather Cowan on the Peaks of Everfrost, in the virtual world of Norrath. The two fell in love as a knight and a cleric slaying dragons. After blindly declaring their love online, they met for the first time in reality in October. Four months later, Kevin drove halfway across the country on Valentine's Day to move in with Heather. With the backdrop of various married couples who met in MMOs, viewers follow Heather and Kevin as they translate their virtual-world relationship into the real world. Can the two continue their actual relationship with the success of the fantasy-land relationship they’ve had thus far?

Fort Wayne, Indiana, is home to a thriving MMO community that lives, works and games together. Andy is a seasoned MMO gamer who currently raids nightly in World of Warcraft along with his wife, Karalee. Their neighbors, Anthony, Chris and Matt, converted their living room into the Fortress of Dorkitude, where they also play MMOs for 40-plus hours a week. They are part of a larger group of gamers, most of whose members work together at a cell phone company, live in close proximity, hit bars on the weekends and play WoW constantly. Fort Wayne introduces viewers to this phenomenon and takes them deeper into it. Watching the group interact is watching MMO culture spoken, without the avatars.

Alongside these three strands, Second Skin ventures to China to explore the world of Gold Farming: sweatshops where millions of Chinese workers spend 20-hour days playing MMOs to earn virtual gold that is sold for real money. The movie also addresses virtual worlds through the lens of the disabled, who live out much richer lives through these online spaces, as well as guilds, massive groups of gamers who meet inside the games and are often closer than family.

Check out the official site.

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Shane Meadows will Beware the Devil

Filmmaker Shane Meadows (Dead Man's Shoes, This is England) is going supernatural for his next film Beware the Devil.

He tells Empire Magazine, "It's based on a book of the same name, based on the life of a guy who, by getting involved with Ouija boards and the occult by trying to disprove it, trying to take the piss out of it, got possessed, had to be exorcised, and later became an exorcist himself. The guy it happened to has died, but his son's a novelist, and he helped him turn it into a book before he passed away, and now I'm working with him to turn it into a film."

Beware the Devil: A True Story of Deliverance was written by Robert Lee and published in 1983. Meadows currently has Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee on the film festival circuit.

It will be interesting to see what Meadows does with something of a supernatural bent.

Source: STYD
Photo: Jennifer Gregori

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Jackie Earle Haley is Krueger for a Trilogy

Jackie Earle Haley has told Bloody-Disgusting that he's signed on to return for more striped jumper mayhem as dream master Freddy Krueger.

"Two more," prompting us to confirm, "So, three total?" Haley smiles, displaying three fingers, "yeah.".

Rooney Mara (Nancy Thompson) is signed on for one more trip to Elm Street. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema will release the remake in theaters 16th April 2010.

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Iron Man 2 - Nick Fury won't be doing much and lots of Armoured villains?

Samuel L Jackson is in Iron Man 2. That's known, as is the fact he's signed up to star in all the other Marvel films. However, will he be doing much kick ass spy type stuff? MTV spoke to Jackson who said fans will likely have to wait for The Avengers for Fury to see some action.

“Not this time, not yet,” Jackson said likelihood we’ll see his character become the action hero fans know in “Iron Man 2.” “We still haven’t moved Nick Fury into the bad-ass zone. He’s still just kind of a talker.”

Asked whether fans will have to wait until the superhero team-up in “The Avengers” to see Fury get into some action scenes, Jackson simply said, “Looking forward to that, yeah.”

Along with dropping some hints about Nick Fury’s potential brawl, Jackson also told MTV News that he’s done filming on the project, adding that most of his scenes were shot with Robert Downey Jr., but there were also a few with Scarlett Johansson, too.

Cinemablend have a news story saying Robert Downey Jr went to the aid of an extra who was injured during filming. That's not the interesting part though. Apparantly this happened during a scene in which stunt men dressed as robotic villains rampage through the set.

That's the interesting bit and reminds me of the Armour Wars storyline. That is the one when Stark realises his technology has got out and tracks down all the armour that utilizes it and shuts it down. We know Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) has armour that appears to be derived from Stark Tech, could these be more?

Image by Skottie Young

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - TV Spot - Extremely Dangerous

TV spot for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince shows small segments of never before seen footage.

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Carriers - Where do you run to when the pandemic hits?

I posted the trailer for Carriers ages ago, but it got pulled. Well now it is back.

It stars Chris Pine (Star Trek), Lou Taylor Pucci, Piper Perabo and Emily VanCamp.

A deadly virus has spread across the globe. Contagion is everywhere, no one is safe, and no one can be trusted. Four young attractive people race through the back roads of the American West to the pounding beat of a vacation soundtrack. Their aim is to retreat to a secluded Utopian beach in the Gulf of Mexico, where they could peacefully wait out the pandemic and survive the apocalyptic disease. Carriers follow their getaway through a surreal and dangerous world where laws and rules no longer apply.

Their plans take a grim turn when their car breaks down on an isolated road, starting a chain of events that will seal the fate of each of them in an inexorable and horrifying voyage of hell through a western landscape populated by only the hideous dead or the twisted living. Their desperate retreat south turns into a deadly battle against infected children, homicidal doctors, crazed survivalists, rabid dogs, and finally, each other. The virus is the least of their problems as horrible choices must be made in the face of lost humanity.

It is due out on 4th September.

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Public Enemies - Press Conference Part 1 - Marion Cotillard

Yesterday I was at the Public Enemies press conference in London. It was fantastic. It's not everyday you get a chance to listen to Michael Mann, Marion Cotillard and Johnny Depp talk about their films. I was also lucky enough to ask a question of both Marion and Johnny. Who would have thought it!

They each came out separately and we had about 20 minutes to ask them questions. I will start of with Oscar winner, Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) and post Michael and Johnny's later today.

Before each one we were asked to keep our questions relevant to the film. A bit of a shame as I wanted to ask Marion about her work on Christopher Nolan's Inception. Oh well. Marion looked lovely in a long green dress. All of them came across as happy, confident and they all seemed to enjoy the questions. I managed to get a photo of them all, but the one for Marion was very blurred so I couldn't use it.

Why did you say yes to Public Enemies?

Because I’m a great fan of Michael Mann and when he asked me to star I couldn’t believe it and I was very happy. I met him and read this beautiful script.

How was it doing the American accent and how did you prepare for that?

It was a technical issue and it was very hard. When I started I thought it was not possible at all, but I really tried to do my best. Fortunately Billie was half French, although she’s not supposed to have French accent.

It’s very technical. You really have to work and work. Practice and using your whole face, jaw, tongue, body in a total different way. It was very interesting. There were hours and hour in front of a mirror with my vocal coach because you don’t think how you speak.

There were so many men in this film. How did you feel being on set in one of the few female roles? Did you feel excluded?

No, absolutely not. Michael Mann has a great respect for women. He’s surrounded by women in his life and I think that is why the women in his movies are very strong. They really have strong personalities and they have a very special place in all his movies so I felt really welcome.

Michael asked you to meet some gangster’s wives and girlfriends. How was that?

They were actually convicts wives some of them were not with gangsters. They were all so generous to share their stories, the very painful experiences they had. We spent a few hours together and it was very emotional because they were very emotional going through the full story of their life.

More than their stories and they were important, but what they felt when they told me their stories. They went back through all those feelings, fear and extreme pain because you don’t know what’s going to happen when you are alone. Some of them had kids

*at this point Marion was distracted by one of the Dictaphones in front of her causing her to laugh *

I could see and feel their pain and fears because you don’t know what’s going to happen the next day. It helped me a lot. You gather some emotions and feeling. It creates your character.

You said you didn’t know anything about Dillinger as all so you must have done a lot of research to find out about him. He’s an American folk hero. Is he known in France at all?

I’m not very sure. I think that my generation doesn’t know Dillinger and yeah I didn’t know anything about him. I didn’t even know his name. The first thing I read about him was the script and the book, Public Enemies. I didn’t do a lot of research about him. My research was more about the period, the American history, and the Indian history because Billie Frechette is half [Menominee] Indian. I really wanted to know about American culture and Indian culture. I knew about the era I learnt at school about the crisis in the Thirties, but I didn’t know that much about American history. What I read about Dillinger was just the script and the book. I watched a lot of pictures of him, but my research was on the Thirties and the American culture.

I never talked about Dillinger with anyone. He may be well known with French people.

Was the experience of working with Michael Mann more than you anticipated?

When I met him, right away, when I came in his office I felt that there was a connection between the two of us. I don’t know how to explain it. I really love him as a person and a director. I wanted to be perfect for him. I wanted to give the best of my best. I don’t know if I did. He was inspirational.

Then it was my turn. I was the gentleman in the third row!

What was it like filming the interrogation scene? How much preparation did you have to do?

The difficulty of the scene was that when you have a very emotional violent scene to do you think of the technique and I had to keep the mid-western accent. It was very difficult, as I had to let it go but at the same time not think about.

I love extreme scenes. I would say that after this kind of scene I feel empty but also fulfilled. I think it may feel like when you do sports and you have a competition like the 100m. After that you feel tired and empty but fulfilled because you did something that was intense. I really love it. It’s not difficult but it is technical.

How deeply did Christian Bale and everyone stay in character? He apparantly kept his accent on between scenes

I didn’t work with him too closely. When we were filming everything was in the Thirties. I think there is something that stays with you while you film. For example if you have an accent you keep it between the scenes, as it is hard to get there. Sometimes it is better to stay there even when you are not shooting, because if you totally get out of it to come back is the same journey. Before I did La Vie en Rose I thought it was dangerous to stay in character and more than that I thought it was kind of ridiculous. I had a judgement because I didn’t know that it’s really hard to go back there. After that my opinion, it was not even an opinion it was a stupid judgement because I didn’t know what I was talking about. Now I know I didn’t force myself to stay in character. It was easy. I couldn’t stop between takes because it was so much work to get there. I really do understand this now.

Thank to Marek at Way to Blue for inviting me and for MPC for the screening.

Part 1: Marion Cotillard

Part 2: Johnny Depp

Part 3: Michael Mann

Public Enemies review

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Couples Retreat - They're so money!

Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love star in Universal Pictures’ upcoming comedy Couples Retreat. Based on an original idea of Vaughn’s, the comedy follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to jet ski, spa and enjoy some fun in the sun. They soon discover that participation in the resort’s couples therapy is not optional. Suddenly, their group-rate vacation comes at a price. What follows is a hilarious look at real world problems faced by all couples. The film also stars Kali Hawk and Jean Reno.

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Public Enemies, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, Stephen Graham, David Wenham, Jason Clarke, Emilie De Ravin
Running Time: 140 minutes
Score: 8 / 10

This review by me. Check out my report from the press conference.

John Dillinger. He seemed unstoppable and in the 13 months from his release from prison to his death he lived for the moment and became a legend. Paroled in May, 19933 and by July 1934 he was dead.

Michael Mann’s Public Enemies tells the tale of Dillinger and his pursuit by G-Man Melvin Pervis, the inspiration for the look of Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy.

My first thoughts on the film – It was good, but not a masterpiece as some are calling it. However, after watching it again that may change for the better, hell it may change while I get my thoughts sorted in this review. The reason being the way it was filmed.

Let me explain. We are all used to films from that era to have certain look and feel to them. That period sheen were you know, not just from the cars and costumes that you are looking at something from the past. The look that film can give you. However, Mann used HD cameras as he did with Collateral. As you know this has a contemporary immediacy about it. It can remind you of a home video or a documentary and lots of the shots in Public Enemies had a hand held look to them as you follow Dillinger and his gang on numerous bank robberies. What I am trying to get at is that this film seemed as if it was shot back then but with todays technology. It’s unlike any other period film that I’ve seen in that regard and it took me a while to get used to it. I found myself enjoying the film more as it went on. Hence if I watched it again I would probably get more out of it.

With that out of the way, let’s get on with it. Depp as Dillinger is superb. You get him straight away. He’s got out of prison after a lengthy sentence for a minor teenage crime. The world around him is full of colour, fun and opportunity and he wants it all right now and to hell with tomorrow. Johnny Depp plays him with a devil may care smile and you can see why the public loved John Dillinger. He played the PR thing before it was invented.

What got me was how cool he was under pressure. From walking around the Dillinger Task Force offices surrounded by photos of himself to breaking out of Lake County Jail with a gun he carved out of a chopping board he just didn’t seem to care what happened to him.

This Lake County breakout was one of my favourite scenes. Depp with his wooden gun takes a few guards hostage before driving out of the prison in the warden’s own car. The audacity of the man was amazing. If you feel that it was a little far fetched it turns out that Michael Mann toned it down from reality as in real life Dillinger took 13 guards hostage but Mann felt the audience would find that a little hard to believe!

The fact that this scene and many others were filmed at the actual locations where events took place makes it all the more realistic. It also went someway in helping the actors play the roles. Little Bohemia Lodge where the FBI surrounded Dillinger and his gang only for them to get away once again. The Biograph theatre in Chicago where Dillinger watched his final film, Manhatten Melodrama (where Clark Gable basically plays Dillinger), was renovated for the film and when Dillinger meets his end in the film, Depp falls in the exact same spot that Dillinger did.

Marion Cotillard is great as Dillinger’s girl, Billie Frechette. She has that wounded innocence that was seen in A Very Long Engagement and in an interrogation scene with the FBI she is wonderful. Like many of the actors she is not actually in the film for that great a length of time, but she lights up the screen every time she is.

Christian Bale plays Melvin Purvis. Hand picked by J Edgar Hoover (a great portrayal by Billy Crudup) the straight laced G-Man finds he has to bend his strict moral code to bring Dillinger to justice and you can see it cutting him up as the film goes on. Bale, as usual, plays it well. He oozes professionalism as the man who tracked down Dillinger and then the frustration as he escapes once again. There is no Batman growl, but he did keep the accent all through the shooting of the film.

Bale and Depp only have a few minutes of screen time together – Mann seems to like doing this with big names, Pacino and De Niro in Heat had a similar amount of time together – but they do it well. Two sides of the same coin. One buttoned down and in control, the other living for the moment, but both keenly aware that they are losing friends and that one day soon only one of them will still be alive.

Around these three big names are numerous other great actors. Many of whom are only on screen for a short time - Stephen Dorff as Homer Van Meter, Channing Tatum as a blink and you’ll miss him Pretty Boy Floyd, Stephen Graham (This is England, Snatch) was brilliant as Baby Face Nelson, David Wenham (300, Australia), Jason Clarke, Emilie De Ravin and many more. All of them were great. Yet sadly not enough time was spent on getting to know some of them. Some of the characters were long time friends of Dillinger, yet you don’t get a chance to know them before they disappear never to be seen again.

The look of the film is spot on. Everything looks authentic – cars, guns, clothes, buildings – and Mann directs with his usual aplomb. The gunfight scenes are all gripping and loud. This is to be expected from Mann whose gun battle in Heat is still one of my favourites.

My main problem with the film was that I felt curiously uninvolved in the first part of the film. This may have been due to the way it was filmed as I mentioned at the start, but it also felt as if you were dropped into the middle of things and then moved quickly to the next scene and then the next, before things settled down a little after the first third. This may have been intentional though to get you into the hectic life of the Dillinger gang, but it did make it hard to get a handle on the characters.

The look and feel of the film did remind me a lot of Arthur Penn’s Bonnie & Clyde.

It was 140 minutes in length but it flew by and I felt a little extra time spent on some of the minor characters would have added to my enjoyment. I definitely want to see it again though as I would appreciate the film more now I know how the HD camerawork affects the look of it all.

Don’t get me wrong, the film is well worth seeing especially if you are a fan of Mann’s previous work. Plus Johnny Depp is always great to see. Be prepared for the curious effect the HD has on the period look and you will enjoy it all the more.

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Why the Terminator looks like Arnie

I'm digging the Paul Verhoeven Robocop vibe on the infomercial in this Terminator 3 deleted scene. I think it would have been fine to keep this in the final cut as it explains why the Terminator looks like Arnie. Plus it couldn't make T-3 any worse.

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The Informant - Trailer for Steven Soderbergh's Matt Damon film

The government decides to go after an agri-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president turned informant Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon).

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