EIFF Round up: Spotlight on IMDb Founder Col Needham

This year the Edinburgh International Film Festival has undergone a bit of a reinvention, with a larger focus on independent films and smaller venues. On Sunday I attended an interview with Col Needham, one of the founding members of what we can all consider to be the largest and most informative film site on the net, the Internet Movie Database.

An interesting aspect of this interview was that the making of this site was clearly through a love of film and not as a business venture. As it is now 20 years old, the IMDb was created before the world wide web actually came into existence, and as Needham explained, was first merely a group of film fans creating lists and databases on actors, directors etc to share amongst each other as a way of gaining knowledge on their love for film.
It wasn't until at least five years later that the beginnings of the website we know it as now came into being, and up until then all the creators were still working 9-5 jobs elsewhere.

Some interesting facts Needham told the audience about himself were that in 1990 he watched a total of 1100 films, how he managed to keep count I have no idea. He also mentioned that he owns 8000 dvds and blu-rays, and still manages to watch at least one film which he has never seen before every single day of the year.

This was an enjoyable discussion as it focused on film talk rather than business ventures such as advertising. Lastly, Needham claimed the director whom he would most like to have direct a film of his life would be David Fincher...but that there were no hidden secrets about the foundings of IMDb such as displayed in The Social Network!

Any Edinburgh geeks should check out this: Tom Lenk's Nerdgasm during the Fringe Festival. It's for one night only and it's on my birthday :)

Rant - *Kids*

I've known about this film for years but have never gotten round to viewing it..then after a friend told me a few days ago that it is something I should never watch as it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, I decided to give it a watch. Having just finished 20 minutes ago, I felt the need to look up the user reviews on IMDB, and read whether or not the majority of reviewers felt the same way about it as I did.

I was mainly surprised at the amount of people who gave extremely positive reviews of the film, mainly stating that Kids is an accurate portrayal of teens today. Perhaps I lived too much of a sheltered upbringing, but I don't think I have ever been in company who have talked the way these kids talk. I was especially surprised by the scene in which the female friends discuss their sexual encounters..finding this not so much the language shocking but that girls so young or of any age would even think, let alone voice aloud these statements.

The way the male cast members act and talk, I genuinely cannot believe that this is accurate. The scene in which the character Casper dips a tampon into a red coloured drink then sucks the liquid out of it a couple of times is probably that which made me feel most disgusted.

During the party which closes the film, the scene where four extremely young boys sit squeezed into a small sofa also had an uncomfortable feel to it..not only because they were sitting smoking weed and talking as if they were 10 years older but for some reason because they all had their tops off..why?! All the male/female/child nudity seemed not unnecessary (as that would probably go against the point of the film) but just strange.

This was also true of the opening scene, where Telly 'deflowers' the 12 year old girl. This girl's body does not have the appearance of a 12 year old. Whether or not this is a case of over sexualisation of a young child I am unsure, but to me this was not realistic.

To summarise, Kids was clearly made to make the viewer feel uncomfortable, and to bring to attention issues that some of us don't want to face up to. However, although this is a decent subject matter, I find the way these kids think they rule the world too unrealistic to accept as an accurate portrayal of teenage life.

Conflicting interests: GLEE

While I find this show oddly compelling to watch, (having whizzed through both seasons in a matter of days) there are many reasons why I find it problematic.

Foremost it centres on how the members of the Glee club are outsiders at their school, who have to put up with jeering and bullying on a daily basis. However although this is a central theme, it seems no steps are ever taken to resolve this. The attitudes taken by the teachers are the same as the students, this is the way life is in high school, rather than to take any action against the bullies.In fact, the only character who has ever shown a truly caring side is the Glee clubs 'arch nemesis', Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester, who attempted to expel a pupil for threatening Kurt (the groups homosexual character) in season 2. Also notably, towards the end of this season, when Kurt is crowned 'prom queen' at his expense, Principal Figgins seems to also take enjoyment out of Kurts humiliation.

Another main concern is the lack of character development. This is not a group of people an audience can really engage with, and although the show is enjoyable to watch, the characters are not ones we learn to love or hate as the show goes on. Clearly there are certain traits which each character possesses, such as Rachel's selfishness, Santana's bitchiness, Emma's OCD tendencies etc, but we never really get to know any of them. Couples seem to change partners on a weekly basis and characters claim their hatred for one another one moment then are seen socialising outside of school in a later scene. The only really likeable character is Sue, who clearly has a tough exterior but also has a softer side hidden away, the result of having grown up deserted by her mother and having to care for her disabled sister alone.

This follows on to my final criticism...plot holes. It seems that what one could assume to be a major plot development is by the following episode forgotten and never mentioned again. Examples of this are in season two's Christmas episode, where Artie is secretly given by Beiste equipment to enable to him walk and make Brittany's wish come true. From the next Episode Artie was seen back in his wheelchair as if the whole thing had never happened. And what exactly happened to the character Beiste? She seemed to be a central focus for half the season then disappeared without a trace.

These are a few points which I have noticed whilst watching Glee. This hasn't taken away any of my enjoyment of this programme but from my point of view are glaringly obvious errors. Its most redeeming factors are obviously the music, as well as the humorous, and at times plain outrageous, one-liners. Glee conforms to so many American school stereotypes that I hope this is meant to be ironic..with the level of humour displayed in the writing though I am sure this is the case.

Review - Hanna *spoilers*

Joe Wright's action flick Hanna is the first film I've seen in months which has left me feeling excited after leaving the cinema. Going in I did not really know what to expect, not knowing much about the plot and having only previously seen Wright's Atonement, the thought of him directing an action film about a young, female assassin left me unsure.

There were many weak points in this film, including many plot holes, unanswered questions and a dodgy southern accent by Cate Blanchett. However, a strong central performance by Saoirse Ronan, beautiful settings and a pumping soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers more than made up for this. I enjoyed the fairytale, dreamlike feel to it, and felt that Wright took some directional risks which worked well.

One aspect of the plot that confused me was why did Erik have the button which Hanna pressed to alert Marissa? It did not seem to me as if the two adults had had any contact since the night Marissa had attempted to kill Erik and Hanna..and having lived in a shack with no electricity for years, this did not seem to fit with the plot.

Overall though, a highly imaginative and artistic film, which Wright should be applauded for his attempt to create something more creative and unusual compared to most of what is shown in cinemas these days.