under the skin

With BFI running a sci-fi season at the moment, I thought I'd get in some of the movies.

The first one was the old school Capricorn One. Made in the 1970s, it is the conspiracy movie about three astronauts having to pretend to land on Mars whilst stuck in a tin shed in Utah. It's the one with the two black chase helicopters...Definitely one to re-watch.

The other one is 'Under the skin'. It's modern 2014, has Scarlett Johanssen as a alien 'woman who fell to earth' roaming the streets of Glasgow in a white van to select male prey.

Directed by Jonathan Glazer of the Guinness surf commercial - which even gets a short nod in one of the scenes.

Although based upon a novel, it feels like a simple short story with an alien glimpse of Glasgow through the eyes of an icily cold well-spoken killing machine. The victims end up in a room similar to the 20:50 Richard Wilson art installation.

There's rangy filming around Glasgow's streets and suburbs and what seems to be a frequently improvised dialogue. Scarlett the A-Lister can dress down as well as scrub up for red carpets. The Mica Levi soundtrack music creates an immersive alien environment, like we are hearing the alien's thought waves.

Compared to Species, the Hollywood movie where Natasha Henstridge's alien woman is hunted through L.A. by Ben Kingsley, 'Under the skin' seems so much more matter-of-fact in the way that Johanssen goes about largely undetected business.

There's more, in what proved to be a surprisingly thought provoking indie sci-fi movie.

elementary my dear Watson

Yesterday became a day for an extended pub lunch followed by a trip to the movies. We decided to see Sherlock Holmes, which did show some quite good scenes of 'London Town' during the time that Tower Bridge was being constructed.

The trailers were for various new monster movies with lots of CGI, but I actually thought some of the gryphons and so on looked rather wooden, despite the finest animation of 2010.

By comparison, the more understated mattes and composites in Sherlock Holmes created a rather more realistic impression of late 1800s London.

There was generally a good sense of 'place' in the movie, until near the end, when they left the Houses of Parliament and ran to the top of the Tower Bridge construction for the grand denouement. Quite a hike really, just to have the fight on the top of the box girders.

There's a similar moment in Bridget Jones, when she follows Mr Darcy through a snowstorm from the Globe in Borough Market to the place where he buys the diary., which looks like its by the Royal Exchange (maybe the Mont Blanc shop?).

I know its the movies, but these would both be Oyster card moments in today's world.

Maybe I'll write a song about it.

movies to watch in snow

We've changed the original plans for today and will spend considerably more time at home. Maybe watch a movie later.

Need good ones with snow themes (in no order):

- Edward Scissorhands * where snow comes from
- Fargo * classy, complex snow, sky and blood spatters
- Let the right one in * vampires done right
- Nightmare before Christmas * not pure xmas movie
- Blow * a different type of snow
- Doctor Zhivago * 3 hour epic
- Help * Yay, Beatles
- Snow White and Seven Dwarves * gotta have a Disney (Bambi?)
- The Golden Compass * Dark materials done well
- Jack Frost * just scrapes in
- Bridget Jones Diary * snowy start and end
- The Shining * poor Jack
- Into the Wild * brilliant road movie
- Bits of James Bond movies * too complicated to itemise
- Superman II * prefer Superman I
- Jeremiah Johnson * adventure in the mountains
- Groundhog Day * always watchable * always watchable
- Manhattan * Beth's great suggestion
- The Chronicles of Narnia * Tilda forever
- A Simple Plan * can go wrong
- Ice Station Zebra * proper cold war
- Gorky Park * ice and icepicks
- Kill Bill I * spectacular at a cinema
- The Thing * classic Carpenter
==
- Ice Storm
- Ice Age
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Dreamcatcher

I like most of the above (to the ==, anyway). Please help me out if you can think of others?

The early morning snow (5/10) has stopped and if I believe the various weather and gulf-stream predictions, it could be the start of the change around of wind directions and an increase in temperatures.

I may make another short trip into the world of the white witches later, prior to tomorrow's expedition back to the car and then onward to the world of commerce.

Let the right one in - Toned-down US Trailer + surface reviewers - I decided the original Scandinavian trailer is too scary

and the book to read...Snow Crash, of course.