DVD Review - A Prophet

Hot on the heels of the two enjoyable but flawed Mesrine films I reviewed last month, last night I watched a French crime movie that's in a different class entirely. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that A Prophet, released earlier this year and nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar, holds its own alongside the very best of its genre produced in any language.

While it lacks the grandiose sweep of the Godfather trilogy or the wise guy wit of Scorsese's early films, what makes this picture so memorable is its complete lack of sentimentality. Set almost entirely within a high security prison, there's no Shawshank Redemption-style uplifting strength in adversity moments here. Jacques Audiard's film is unflinchingly honest in his portrayal of a brutal, unforgiving environment where survival is the name of the game rather than rehabilitation.

Malik (Tahar Rahim), an illiterate teenage Arab experiencing adult incarceration for the first time, is forced to sink or swim in a wing ran by rugged veteran Corsican gangsters. Within weeks, he's forced to murder a fellow Muslim who is set to testify against the external associates of gang leader Luciani (wonderfully played by Niels Arestup) in a horrific but brilliantly directed scene that is instrumental in shaping Malik's future. While the killing haunts his conscience (through a series of ghostly flashbacks), it also hardens him and sets him on the path towards a successful criminal career.

What follows over the next two hours is a young man's gradual development from callow, terrified prison novice to fearless, cunning overlord. Realising he has to play by Luciani's rules to stay alive, Malik does as he's told while learning all the time from his nefarious mentor. Simultaneously, he cultivates the image of a model prisoner, polite, respectful, taking classes and diligently carrying out his inmate duties. As a result, he's granted day releases, which he uses to carry out jobs for the Corsicans while also building his own drug trafficking operation. In the end, after playing all his cards right, he's in the position to become top dog himself.

Audiard vividly captures the bleak, claustrophobic world that Malik and his fellow felons inhabit, shooting A Prophet in an unfussy, ultra-realistic style that makes the story feel horribly but compellingly alive. While the violence that takes place is not for the faint hearted, the film's greatest strength is its characterisation and the alarming broader themes of a racially divided, institutionally corrupt France. In this unforgiving world, Malik does not receive redemption, nor indeed does he seek it. Instead, he realises early on that it is the law of the jungle rather than the law of the land that really matters, and while his journey is scarcely one of hope, it's nevertheless utterly absorbing.

Rating: 9 out of 10. An understated masterpiece, A Prophet is a gritty, intelligent triumph and proof that continental European cinema can often rival or even surpass the best Hollywood has to offer. Highly recommended.

My Premiership predictions

With the World Cup fading into the memory as England come roaring back with a scintillating 2-1 victory over the mighty Hungary ;-) the new Premiership season is almost upon us.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to share my predictions for how the table will finish. In reverse order:

20) Blackpool: It's great to see Blackpool get their taste of glory and we all love Ian Holloway, but the harsh reality is that his current squad is arguably the weakest ever to reach the Premiership (Derby were just unlucky). Will require a miracle to stay up.

19) West Brom: The ultimate yo-yo club, they've done nothing in the transfer market to suggest they can buck their usual trend this time out.

18) Wigan: Have done wonderfully well to survive this long in the elite considering the size of the club, but their were warning signs last season and I'm not sure their assorted obscure Latin Americans will be enough to save them.

17) Wolves: Hard to see any improvement on last year, but with a battling attitude and Kevin Doyle up front, they should have just about enough to live to fight another day.

16) West Ham: Avram Grant is a very underrated manager, but there's still not enough quality in the Hammers' ranks to enable them to push on, especially with Carlton Cole, Upson & maybe Parker seemingly on their way out. Another undistinguished season awaits.

15) Newcastle: On paper, this side isn't any better than the one that went down in 2009, but the mood is more settled at St.James's Park now under Chris Hughton, which should be enough to ensure survival is relatively comfortable.

14) Bolton: Never ones to please the purists, but improved under Owen Coyle last season and Martin Petrov could introduce some welcome attacking flair. Solid but unspectacular once again.

13) Sunderland: Steve Bruce's team are frustratingly inconsistent and following the questionable decision to sell Kenwyne Jones will be over-reliant on Darren Bent for goals. A top half finish will be demanded but looks unlikely.

12) Stoke: The arrival of the aforementioned Mr Jones for a club record £8 million signals Stoke's ambition, but while the Britannia Stadium is undoubtedly one of the Premiership's most intimidating arenas, Tony Pulis's team still lack the finesse to break down the better teams away from home.

11) Blackburn: Similar to Bolton in that they are unlikely to win many points for artistic merit but have become hard to beat, led by Kiwi World Cup hero Ryan Nelson and boosted by a good crop of youngsters. Nevertheless, hard to see them progressing beyond mid-table respectability.

10) Aston Villa: Three consecutive sixth place finishes may be as good as it gets for Villa. With Martin O'Neill's ill-timed departure, speculation over James Milner and other key players and a chairman keen to run the club frugally, it's hard to see anything other than regression this term.

9) Fulham: Mark Hughes is a proven Premiership manager and he has inherited a strong, settled and increasingly confident group of players from Roy Hodgson. Their European adventure distracted them from the League slightly last season, but expect a top ten showing this time with Bobby Zamora leading the way.

8) Birmingham City: Came on in leaps and bounds last season, and with Ben Foster replacing Joe Hart behind a miserly defence and the addition of the giant Serbian striker Nikolai Zigic to improve their goalscoring threat, they should at least emulate last season's 9th place.

7) Manchester City: Many observers believe a top four finish or even a title push is inevitable, but I just can't see it. Roberto Mancini has assembled a vast, bloated squad of highly paid players, but with the exception of Tevez and Robinho (both of whom can be as disruptive as they are deadly) and David Silva (unproven in England) they lack the world class quality to be found in Chelsea, Man Utd or Arsenal's squads. Deciding on a first choice side and keeping the fringe players happy will be a big enough challenge for Mancini without the added pressure of silverware, and a failure to deliver it will cost him his job - assuming he even makes it as far as next May.

6) Liverpool: After last season's alarming decline and continuing uncertainty over who will own the club, Roy Hodgson's steady hand is just what Liverpool need. Joe Cole will add quality in midfield while Stevie G and Torres remain unstoppable on their day, but the squad still lacks depth, especially in defence where Jamie Carragher is creaking alarmingly. Better than last season, but not much.

5) Spurs: Well capable of equalling or even improving on last year's fourth place, but I fear the excitement and demands of the Champions League may cost them a little this season and see them just miss out on a second consecutive qualification. Still just short of the depth and top, top drawer quality to challenge on two fronts.

4) Everton: But for an injury-plagued first half of the season, Everton would have been in the mix for fourth last season, and with their full squad available and star man Mikael Arteta on a new contract I expect them to be this year's surprise package. Much will depend on Louis Saha staying fit often enough to guarantee goals, as their other striker options are limited.

3) Arsenal: Were in the race for much of last season and should be in the mix again, with the talismanic Fabregas still at the Emirates and Marouane Chamakh adding extra physicality and goals up front. But the suspicion remains that for all their attacking brilliance, their defence and goalkeeper still aren't quite up to the task.

2) Chelsea: Should really have won at a canter last season, but in the end nearly threw the title away to an unremarkable Man Utd side. The return of the superb Essien will add to their energy in midfield, but there's no escaping the fact that their best players are all the wrong side of 30 and probably past their best. With little evidence of top quality young talent ready to share the burden, expect a slight dip although still a strong challenge.

1) Man Utd: There's arguably no outstanding team in the Premiership at the moment, and this certainly isn't a vintage Utd team. Even more than Chelsea, key players like Van Der Sar, Ferdinand, Scholes and Giggs are entering their twilight years, and Utd continue to lack real authority in midfield if the latter two veterans aren't in the team. But with players like Vidic, Evra, Fletcher, Valencia and Rooney, plus the arrival of Javier Hernandez to help share the goalscoring burden, Utd have more options than Chelsea and I expect them to improve enough this season to narrowly reclaim their title as the best of a relatively bad bunch of contenders.



So there we have it! Would be good to hear your thoughts.

Regards

The Sage

Album Of The Week: The Count And Sinden - Mega Mega Mega

Hi all, please see below a link to my latest BBC review - one for the clubbers among you!

Regards

The Sage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/zdq4

Album Of The Week: Best Coast - Crazy For You

Back in the late 1980s, there was a brief flurry of lo-fi indie guitar bands fronted by winsome girl singers, notably The Primitives and the louder, punkier Transvision Vamp. If those bands had emerged 20 years later bathed in Californian sunshine, they would probably have sounded rather like Best Coast.

Fronted by the engaging Bethany Cosentino, this Los Angeles duo's debut album is an instantly likeable sugar rush of tuneful, uncomplicated summer pop, effortlessly combining classic American girl group harmonies and fuzzy indie rock across 13 tracks each clocking in at well under the three minute mark.

All the tracks are very similar, with simple, direct lyrics about beaches, boys and Bethany's favourite feline friend -“I lost my job, I miss my mom, I wish my cat could talk," she trills on Goodbye - but that's one of the reasons Crazy For You works so well.

If every band was striving to produce Muse-inspired epic rock symphonies with classical piano interludes and choruses about medieval knights, then the world would be a dull place indeed. Best Coast revel in being an unapologetic one trick pony, and when that trick works time after time it would be churlish to knock them for it.

Rating: 7 out of 10. Some of the best music is the most basic, and you'll be singing along to this one in the shower for weeks. Not a record to stand the test of time, but one for savouring the moment. Recommended.

Film Review: Inception

I took in the most hyped film of the summer on Sunday afternoon and found it to be predictably entertaining and ridiculous at the same time.

For those of you who haven't seen it, the plot revolves around Dom Cobb (Leonardo di Caprio), a specialist in the somewhat implausible art of inflitrating and influencing the thoughts of sleeping people as they dream. This skill is apparently much in demand to extract vital privileged information from business leaders that could be used for commercial gain by their rivals, or to encourage their subconscious to make particular decisions that will have major implications.

It's the latter scenario that Cobb's trying to achieve here, and he hooks up with a crack team of international mind benders to convince the alienated son of a terminally ill oil tycoon that he must break up his father's empire to become his own man. The beneficiary this time is a Japanese oligarch (who just happens to join Cobb's party himself despite no experience whatsoever), and in return he will use his influence to allow Cobb to return to his native U.S to see his children, who he has been unable to visit due to suspicions he killed his wife.

All clear so far? I thought not. The key to enjoying Inception is just to sit back and enjoy the ride without getting too hung up on whether you actually understand everything that's going on or not. Once Cobb and friends start entering the dreams within dreams, we often have two or three sequences taking place at the same time, with any semblance of a conventional narrative left behind. But it's all done with such verve, and with some fantastic visual flourishes (check out the Parisian scenes in particular to witness the power of the imagination) that it doesn't really matter that much, although the film could have done with being half an hour shorter.

The biggest problem with Inception is not the fantastical storyline or the confusing tangents, but its leading man. It continues to baffle this writer that Di Caprio is now regarded as a heavyweight actor, because other than his ever more prominent jowls there seems little evidence to suggest he has progressed significantly from his youthful pin-up days of 15 years ago. Here he gives a characteristically wooden and dour performance, but thankfully the superior talents of the elegant Marion Cotillard as the wife who haunts Cobb's own subconscious, and suave Brit Tom Hardy as the sarcastic Eames, ensure there is some quality on show here beyond the spectacular special effects.

Rating: 6 out of 10. Like the Matrix series, this latest film from Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) purports to have more depth and intelligence than is actually the case, but if you are prepared to ignore the flaws this is an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

Top 10 Withnail & I lines

I watched the timeless British classic Withnail & I for probably around the 43rd time last night, so for any fellow obsessives out there, here's my top 10 lines from the film, in no particular order. Anyone who hasn't seen it should stop reading now...

1) 'I mean to have you even if it must be burglary!' - Uncle Monty outlines his determination to have his wicked way with Marwood - 'I'.

2) 'Don't threaten me with a dead fish!' - Withnail responds indignantly to being menaced with a moribund eel by Jake the poacher.

3) 'There is, I think you will agree, a certain je ne sais quois about a firm, young carrot' - Monty explains his life long love of vegetables in his own inimicable style.

4) 'Four floors up on the Charing Cross Road and never a job at the top of them' - Monty again, lamenting the inefficiency of his theatrical agent, one Raymond Duck.

5) 'Stop saying that Withnail, of course he's the fucking farmer!' - 'I' becomes increasingly frustrated by Withnail asking a man on a tractor three times if he is 'the farmer'.

6) 'We want cake and fine wine. We want the finest wines known to humanity; we want them here and we want them now.' - A drunken Withnail outlines his demands to the proprietor of the Penrith Tea Rooms.

7) Withnail: 'My family don't like me being on the stage'

'I': 'Then they must be delighted by your career so far'

'I' makes a withering but accurate assessment of Withnail's lack of progress in his thespian endeavours to date.

8) 'Even a stopped clock keeps the right time twice a day' - 'I' philosophising in the bath.

9) 'They're selling hippy wigs in Woolworths man. The greatest decade in the history of the world is over ... and we have failed to paint it black.' - drug dealer Danny reflects backs at the end of the 60s.

10) 'Scrubbers! Scrubbers!' - Withnail charms some passing schoolgirls while sticking his head out of the Jag's window.


There's my ten - no doubt my fellow Withnail afficianados will think there's many others that should be in there instead!