Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in Joss Whedon's Avengers Assemble. Photograph: Zade Rosenthal/Marvel/MVLFFLLC

Joss Whedon has been busy. With The Cabin in the Woods (producer/writer) recently hitting the multiplexes and two soon-to-be released projects to get excited about, that leaves the small matter of the biggest cinematic superhero event ever. Well, until The Dark Knight Rises comes out in July – although even Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated climax to his Batman saga may struggle to overhaul the box office numbers already generated by the alliance of Marvel’s biggest hitters.

Takings aside, with so many big-name characters, stratospheric egos and deep-pocketed CGI expense involved in the Avengers Assemble, could this mammoth movie be reined in enough to produce something more than just a mega-bucks explosion-fest? The answer is an assured yes.

It doesn’t have the moody quality of Nolan’s work, but this wasn’t to be expected having gauged the vibe of recent individual film outings for members of the Avengers (Iron Man 1 & 2, Thor and Captain America). It was never going to feel as “real” either, with such emphasis on CGI and the characters on show being superhuman freaks, scientific mistakes and even gods, rather than simply well-trained vigilantes, but Whedon wields his weapons with aplomb, delivering a high-octane blockbuster, not wasting any of a £220m budget – which has already been recompensed by ticket sales alone!

The premise comprises a typical comic-book dilemma, with the world under threat from an evil schemer. Covert/military agency S.H.I.E.L.D. has in its possession an immensely powerful source of energy, the “Cosmic Cube”, which the agency is supposedly trying to harness to provide earth with a realistic renewable energy solution. However, far-seeing eyes have other ideas for the use of this cube (think Spiderman and tritium). When the cube is stolen by Loki (Tom Hiddleston) – brother of Norse demi-god Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – this means bad news for S.H.I.E.L.D. and planet earth, as Loki knows the cube can open a portal to other dimensions where those with evil intent reside.

Envy-riddled Loki dreams of having humanity kneel before him when his plan comes to fruition and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s only hope of stopping this is to recover the cube. Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), director of S.H.I.E.L.D., has one hope of recovering the energy source from the deadly repercussions of it staying in Loki’s possession, which is to call upon some extraordinary (if destructive) beings.

Fury must reactivate a previously-aborted agency project called “Avengers Initiative”, in which these unique individuals must unite to form an elite team to counter the threat that is imminently facing the earth. This is no mean feat, considering that some of these heroes are either off the grid, reluctant, volatile or in Tony Stark’s own words, “don’t play well with others.” The task is made all the more difficult as Loki has brainwashed two of Fury’s assets – expert archer Clint “Hawkeye” Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Professor Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) – utilising the cube’s power via his sceptre.

Some of the recent solo movies preceding the Avengers Assemble have not lived up to their hype or potential, but this culmination of their unity is an impressive sum of parts and an enthralling adventure, albeit with the mainstream appeal of punchy comedic dialogue. The return of Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark AKA Ironman is the key, as his quick wit and cocksure swagger provide a great balance for the tension of the posse’s predicament. There is great banter between the stars, as this dysfunctional army threatens to self-destruct, whilst trading verbal as well as physical blows.

Credit is also due for the casting of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk. We have seen a couple of pretty poor depictions of the big green giant in recent memory, but Ruffalo captures the dangerously brittle temperament of the character brilliantly. Add the sexy-but-deadly Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), the patriotic pomp of all-American hero Captain America (Chris Evans) and the brutish hammer-wielding Thor into the mix and you have a concoction brimming with fireworks.

Marvel’s Avengers Assemble 3D is not as slick or as cool as another superhero ensemble brought to life in 2009, Watchmen, but this ambitious movie outguns Transformers and is a non-stop thrill ride.

Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (12A)
Directed by Joss Whedon
Starring: Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlet Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Hemsworth, Stellan Skarsgård
Running time: 142 minutes

Marvel’s Avengers Assemble 3D is showing at the Hackney Picturehouse throughout May.

Meta-horror: The Cabin in the Woods

From the title and trailer alone, many cinemagoers would be understandably cautious about this new scare-fest from writer/director Drew Goddard (best known for his TV work on Lost and Alias). It looks and sounds like a whole host of American scary movies churned out over the past few years and unless you have an insatiable thirst for formulaic horror soaked in the gore of hapless youthful protagonists, it is likely that you would naturally swerve this latest release.

I would urge the sceptics to reconsider, if only to spread the word that The Cabin in the Woods is NOT the standard Hollywood horror movie blueprint and that it does in fact have something new to offer – even if what it offers is utterly ludicrous!

The ultimate storyline – which cannot be explained without giving the game away – is outrageous to the say the least and it is as if the humour Goddard injects into the film is his way of justifying the outlandish plot. Co-writer and producer Joss (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Whedon’s prints are all over this film in terms of style and tone, especially in the crazy finale.

The initial premise is as predictable as it gets; a bunch of college students taking a trip to a cabin in the middle of nowhere to put studies to one side and get back to nature; translated as getting drunk in the woods for the weekend. The characters are intentionally stereotypical (for reasons that come to light at the end of the film), as you have the jock (Chris Hemsworth), the blonde (Anna Hutchison), the stoner (Fran Kranz), the nice guy (Jesse Williams) and the cautious bookworm (Kristen Connolly).

As these doomed youngsters head into the mountains, they encounter a “you’re not from round here”-type local man working at a decrepit gas station (Tim de Zarn), who portends that this blissful and secluded cabin spot that they are heading towards is not all it seems and will be more difficult getting home from than finding it.

Once they settle in at the cabin and its surroundings, unsurprisingly enough, something is awry. After a cellar door pops open and the youths foolishly investigate, things get weird and the friends begin acting strangely. The deep-thinking stoner, Marty (Fran Kranz), turns prophet as he realises that they are being watched and lead down a dark path by puppet masters with a shady agenda.

This puppetry comes as no surprise to the viewer, as a sub plot has been running alongside our cabin campers’ scenario, in which we see a highly technological hub, with numerous workers watching numerous screens, which are showing our protagonists’ every move. The reason why this facility has been set up and why these voyeurs are preying on this group slowly unravels throughout the course of the film, but once our chosen ones enter the cellar, things rapidly get nasty and brutal.

Soon the main and the subplot merge and whilst the comedic moments keep arising, especially from a couple of wise-cracking technicians (brilliantly played by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford), the shocks in store for the students come thick and fast and the terror becomes truly gripping and gruesome.

You won’t believe the way the storyline goes and as the action enters the last phase you won’t much care. You will just be pinned back in your seat whilst wave upon wave of intense horror is unleashed, as if the majority of the film’s budget was saved for the final 20 minutes.

You’ll laugh and you’ll wince and you’ll shake your head at the ridiculousness of it all, but The Cabin in the Woods is anything but a regulation scary movie. It is an exhausting 95-minute rollercoaster (or ghost train) steering you through the nightmarish incarnations of evil from the troubled minds of Goddard and Whedon, which is highly entertaining, albeit totally bonkers.

The Cabin in the Woods (15)
Directed by Drew Goddard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Tim de Zarn and Sigourney Weaver.
Running time: 95 minutes

The Cabin in the Woods is showing at the Hackney Picturehouse until 3 May.

Kamal Aljafar's Port of Memory

The London Palestinian Film Festival kicked off its pre-festival season with a double bill screening of Kamal Aljafari’s films at Hackney Picturehouse.

The showing opened with Port of Memory, set in the seaside neighbourhood of Jaffa.

It follows a family, played by Aljafari’s aunt and uncle, who face eviction from their home by Israeli settlers. The film is a lyrical meditation on being Palestinian in Israel and there is an unsettling sense of hopelessness throughout the film, indicated by the restless way the characters wander through the deserted town, displaced but without destination.

This is heightened by Aljafari’s use of footage from 1970s American films such as The Delta Force starring Chuck Norris which are full of confidence and conflict compared with the silent stagnation and instability experienced by the Palestinian characters. Aljafari engages tenderly with his subject matter but the problem is there not much of a narrative to follow in Port of Memory which keeps the viewer at arms length and stops them from becoming involved with the characters.

The Roof, Aljafari’s other film, is also set in Ramle and Jaffa. It is an unassuming but touching family portrait which explores similar themes of displacement and state neglect.

There is much more dialogue than in the previous film; from a hilarious exchange between Aljafari and a friend who has been banned from Jordan for insulting the royal family to the grandmother’s heart wrenching account of the deaths of her brothers. Aljafari is an accomplished film maker and he confidently captures the surroundings which are evidently at the crux of both films.

Despite his interest in places and what they mean to their inhabitants, during the question and answer session Aljafari spoke of his reluctance to be pigeonholed as a Palestinian film maker: “This film is a documentary but I am not a documentary film maker. What I am trying to do every time I make a film is to collect information and sounds from people around me.” He added: “I do not want to make a film about how awful it is and portray the Palestinians as victims”.

The festival, which lasts from 20 April to 3 May, showcases the best in Palestinian film with screenings at the Barbican, SOAS and UCL of work by Sameh Zoabi, Tawfik Abu Wael and Susan Sontag.

For more information on the full programme go to The London Palestine Film Festival.

Umit Mesut in his Clapton shop. Photograph: Tim Sullivan

Hackney is experiencing a cinematic revival and at its heart is living legend Umit Mesut. This Hackney native’s shop at 35 Lower Clapton Road takes you back in time to understand what cinematography was once about.

It is a space crammed full of DVDs around a small passage, posters hanging from the ceiling, a tempting range of sweets, and a pile of real film reels at the back.

Umit knows everything about cinema and projectors, but he tries to be modest: “You have to understand, I am still discovering a lot of things, I am constantly learning”, he says. “I have been trying to save the art of cinema for twenty five years.”

His quest is to preserve 16 and 35 mm projectors and technicians who can actually operate them.

Maybe Umit is not aware of it, but he has a huge following in area. Just ask around and many will reply: “Oh yes, the strange shop with movies and old projectors by the greengrocers”.

Liam Saint Pierre belongs to that following, with a real passion for the cinema. With some friends, he is now making movies and productions on old-fashioned film.

“Do you know about the French New Wave, Parisian cinema around 1968? I would like to re- establish that – a kind of British New Wave,” says Liam.

Inspired by Umit Mesut, Liam has created Cine Real, a film club devoted to classics shown from a 16mm projector.

The club has shown Rebel Without a Cause,  Jaws and The Sting, and The Bicycle Thieves is set for 26 April.

More at Cine-Real.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. Photograph: Murray Close

Last year the phenomenon that was Harry Potter came to a dramatic climax and later this year we will see the curtain closing on the Twilight Saga, but the film world’s next all-encompassing juggernaut is already here in the form of The Hunger Games.

As with aforementioned blockbusters, the buzz about The Hunger Games came out of the success of a book series, especially with children and young adults. The subject matter here is much darker and more starkly violent than the more family-friendly combat of the other two film series. Despite a generous 12A classification, The Hunger Games director Gary Ross doesn’t cut away at point of impact, when knives are wielded and arrows fired and there are a number of jaw-dropping moments.

The film is set in a dystopian future in a society formed from post-apocalyptic North America, now known as Panem. The capital of this reformed nation is the aptly-named Capitol, a dictatorship epicentre, from where the nation is run by the rule of fear. The high society in the Capitol is a decadent and extravagant class, dressed colourfully and outrageously like the spawn of Laga Gaga and the Capitol is fuelled by the hard labour the inhabitants of the ‘Districts’. There are 12 districts and the perimeters are patrolled by enforcers called ‘Peacekeepers’. The districts are working-class labour sectors responsible for varying sources of production, manufacturing and farming.

The annual event known as the “The Hunger Games” compromises of a randomly picked boy and girl – between the ages of 12 and 18 – from each district being mandatorily entered into a tournament, the rules of which consist of 24 combatants fighting it out to the death in a wooded arena, filled with weapons, until one child remains as the sole survivor and victor of the most brutal of competitions.

The concept of this ceremony, lead by President Snow (Donald Sutherland), is that the games are a harsh reminder that the citizens of the districts should know their place and no revolts will be tolerated, since the rebellion which forged the event over 70 years before. The lottery-like drawing of competitors is called ‘The Reaping’ and those not-so-lucky children are known as tributes – as though they represent a donation from the districts as an apology for disgracing the nation of Panem.

The tributes are sacrificial lambs sent to the slaughterhouse, satisfying the blood lust of the high society and for Snow it is way of continually hammering down the iron fist of control. As almost justification for the brutality of the games, the president gives the sole survivor the glory of riches, in addition to their life remaining intact. The weapon of hope sits alongside fear in the armoury of the Capitol. Snow is adamant that there should always be hope, just not too much hope and the propaganda phrase that echoes throughout the film is, “may the odds be ever in your favour”.

The focus of the film in the current event falls upon District 12, a fairly humble settlement, where workers specialise in mining and our proletariat heroes to route for are Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the former causing a storm as a rare outer district volunteer tribute – she puts herself forward to replace her younger sister Primose [Willow Shields].

The premise of The Hunger Games may sound familiar – people selected and forced to fight to the death in a spectacle broadcasted live on TV in a totalitarian society – think Battle Royale, The Running Man and Death Race – but this story taps further into the themes of police state politics, dystopian imaginings and modern society’s obsession with melodramatic reality TV.

Like X Factor, Pop Idol and the rest of the conveyor belt of clones, this monstrous spectacle even has mentors, sponsors, contrived sub plots and rules changes. There are echoes of The Truman Show at times when the competitors begin to test the all-powerful puppet master. There are team tactics, sob stories and everything you’d expect to see in a gameshow with delusions of grandeur, but this real life horror show is threatened by the Katniss’ warrior spirit and intrinsic goodness. As she battles the seemingly impossible task of survival, the sweeping action is gripping throughout the 2 ½ hours.

As well as quelling fears that this lowly-classified feature could be lacking punch and realism, there are several entertaining performances to be cherished, most notably Woody Harrelson as Haymitch (a alcohol-swilling former games victor who acts a mentor for Katniss and Peeta) and Stanley Tucci as blue-haired presenter Caesar Flickerman.

In the hands of a daring and ground-breaking director like Christopher Nolan perhaps, The Hunger Games could have been even more spectacular than it is, however, credit to Gary Ross as this is a highly-watchable opener to an intriguing saga that will dominate the box office over the coming years.

The Hunger Games (12A)
Directed by Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Wesley Bentley, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Willow Shields.
Running time: 142 minutes

The Hunger Games is showing at the Hackney Picturehouse until 12 April.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street. Photograph: Columbia Pictures/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar

The young directorial duo, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, have brought the mullet-heavy 80’s TV series 21 Jump Street – which fast-tracked Johnny Depp to Hollywood stardom – to the big screen. The show is largely-unknown on these shores, but the show and this film’s premise is made for the cinema.

2012’s reincarnation sees two eager, but immature newly-qualified cops transferred to a special police initiative, headed up by boisterous Captain Dickson (Ice Cube), where they must go undercover in a school to investigate the distribution of a new drug that has spread like wildfire amidst teenagers.

Officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are expected to masquerade as high school seniors and Dickson’s unerring brief is to “infiltrate the dealers and find the suppliers”. This opens up endless humorous opportunities and the film could have gone down the juvenile post-American Pie route, but 21 Jump Street is much smarter and funnier than that and Lord and Miller have delivered a real unexpected gem with this riot of a comedy.

The twist in the premise is that the two cops have history, as 7 years previous Schmidt and Jenko attending school together. Jenko was a typical oppressor of geeks – handy with the ladies, but bottom of the class – while Schmidt was the over-mothered grade-A student who was inept in the presence of girls.

Just when it seems like they are about to relive these roles, whilst undercover at this school, roles are reversed after Jenko gets their new identities mixed when enrolling. This means that he is stuck in science classes with the tech-savvy bods and Schmidt must reluctantly tackle drama and sport.

Alongside the snappy banter between the leads and slapstick action laughs, there is a weigh of sentiment and life lessons being developed in the subplot that makes 21 Jump Street one of that rare breed of comedies that make you continually laugh out loud, while simultaneously caring wholeheartedly about the plight of the characters – think Superbad and Shaun of the Dead.

Some of the off-the-wall moments in this film, of which there are many, leave you laughing into the following scene. When befriending the school pusher [Dave Franco], our heroes must take the drug to gain his trust, which produces some hilariously bizarre, cartoon-like scenes of crazed behaviour. The personality of screenwriter Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) is strongest here and it helps that the directors have a history in animation.

A comedy blockbuster adaptation co-starring the beefcake, ex-model/dancer Channing Tatum looked ominous pre-release – Vin Diesel and Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson spring to mind – but Tatum is revelation as the bullyboy jock-turned good and is the perfect foil to the awkwardly uncool act of Jonah Hill.

There is plenty of thoughtful, social comment meat on the bones in the movie, as the hierarchic rules amongst students have changed since the officers were at school. The eco-conscience creative types are the cool crowd now and when Schmidt gets in with the crew, there is the threat that he is in too deep; enjoying his new found status in classroom demographics. Although, initially struggling to deal with being a Neanderthal on the scrapheap, Jenko soon embraces the surprisingly-interesting science squares. Can they remain focused on their objective when things suddenly get out of hand?

I urge everyone to go see this film for many reasons, but the sheer laugh-count alone is worth the cinema admission and I rate this as one of the funniest films in years – up there with The Hangover and Step Brothers.

21 Jump Street (15)
Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube and Dave Franco.
Running time: 109 minutes

21 Jump Street is showing at the Hackney Picturehouse until Thursday 29 March.

Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein and Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method

Much of the media buzz about David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method has focused on the spanking scenes in this film about the controversial, but groundbreaking psychiatrists, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. The recipient of this punishment, Keira Knightley, has used every opportunity in interviews to talk up these scenes, seemingly in an attempt to boost box office revenue.

Ironically, it is the lack of real depth in the film’s exploration of the sexual themes involved in psychosis, which Freud famously brought to the foreground of the public consciousness, which has left many critics disappointed.

Serial Cronenberg-collaborator Viggo Mortensen – he has starred in the director’s last two movies (A History of Violence and Eastern Promises) – plays the self-assured Freud, while man-of-the-moment Michael Fassbender plays the studious and ambitious Jung. Knightley takes the role of a young Sabina Spielrein, who is a wannabe-psychiatrist whose own psychological problems have led to her being admitted to Jung’s institute, as she is clearly troubled and uncontrollably frenzied.

The audience is introduced to a mentor/apprentice-type relationship between Freud and Jung, flitting between Zurich and Vienna, where they share thoughts, experiences and case notes. Freud has a strong air of authority and the initially-respectful Jung soaks up Freud’s taboo-breaking concepts, while Freud sees Jung as someone who can help push his daring theories forward and defy the naysayers.

Jung is concerned that all Freud’s psychoanalytical theories revolve around relating patients’ problems back to sexual urges and repression. However, the masochistic Spielrein is the catalyst for the make and eventual break of the Freud/Jung working partnership. Her deep-seated issues with the unsettling excitement she felt from childhood physical punishment are at the heart of her hysteria and Jung uses Freud’s techniques while analysing and treating her. Her case intrigued both men.

Ironically, while considering some of Freud’s sex-based interpretations of psychological issues and dreams, Jung starts slipping from his rigid, uncomplicated family life and allows his own repressed sexual desires to break through his walls of restraint. He gives into the advances of Spielrein, who as well as being his patient and assistant, becomes his mistress and his outlet for exploring his inner feelings.

This triggers major changes – both good and bad – not only in the landscape of Jung’s thinking, but his married life and his friendship with Freud, which becomes steadily frostier, as Jung’s more whimsical theories frustrate Freud – amongst other issues – plus clashes of creed creep into the disaffection.

A Dangerous Method is an intriguing film, documenting a seminal collaboration of great minds and the theorising dialogue between them is compelling, as Fassbender and Mortensen strive to portray the magnitude of these icons of psychology.

It is let down though by the over-acting of the marmite-esque Knightley. The opening scenes, when Spielrein is brought to Jung, are almost unwatchable. Knightley conjures up some of the most laughable facial expressions and gurning imaginable. There cannot be too many viewers who could find her performance (including a very suspect Russian accent) wholly convincing.

Spielrein proved to be an integral figure in the progression of psychoanalytical thinking, first as a an analysand treated by Jung, then as she forged her own career as a psychoanalyst, but Knightley’s depiction is overegged and detracts from the good understated work done by the two male leads.

What also prevents A Dangerous Method from being a great film is that it doesn’t delve far enough into the meat of the theories and instead we get more of an overview, supporting by constant cigar-smoking and expressions of musing from Mortensen’s Freud. It lacks edginess, despite the subject matter, which is surprising considering the reputation of a left-field director like Cronenberg.

There is a cameo to savour from Vincent Cassel, as the renegade psychiatrist Otto Gross. The unhinged, sex-addicted and drug-fuelled Gross shocks and corrupts the mind of Jung. Two words uttered by Gross to Jung illustrate the overriding theme of the film: “Repress nothing.”

A Dangerous Method (15)
Directed by David Cronenberg
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel
Running time: 99 minutes

A Dangerous Method is showing at the Rio Cinema until 23 February and at the Hackney Picturehouse until 1 March.

Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell: Photograph: Tim Sullivan

In 2006, Hackney-based film-maker Dan Edelstyn discovered a manuscript in his mother’s attic which inspired a vodka adventure which continues to this day.

The memoirs of Edelstyn’s grandmother, Maroussia Zorokovich, revealed her privileged upbringing in Ukraine, her suffering following the Russian Revolution in 1917 and eventual emigration to the UK.

In her childhood, the Zorokovich family estate included a distillery and, on a visit in 2008 to learn more of his ancestral roots, Edelstyn became captivated by the idea of bringing back vodka produced on the site once owned by his family.

As seen in his debut feature film, documenting the ongoing foray into the industry, becoming a vodka tsar is far more complex today than it might seem, when staring up into the family tree.

His great-great-grandfather was of peasant stock but, with an iron will, amassed land and great riches.

“He couldn’t read or write,” Edelstyn tells me, “but he took all the land in that area of Ukraine.

“He was an entrepreneur. He built up this huge empire and he lived in this massive mansion, with his wife and his lover at the same time. His lover was there in this very thin disguise as a housemaid.”

The family was broken by the rise of the Bolsheviks, losing everything. The spirit distillery is now property of the state and, when approaching those in charge of it four years ago, Edelstyn was faced with having to explain that he had no grand designs on what had once belonged to his family.

“First they were suspicious of us, thinking we’d come back to take the distillery.”

They were able to allay the concerns of the management, with the help of a ‘fixer’. “He was someone who would translate for us and then it gradually evolved,” says Edelstyn.

“Now he’s a business partner, he knows everyone inside our business, all of the different suppliers. He’s got a great portfolio of people he can call.”

Having crossed that first prickly hurdle, Edelstyn resolved to take on the challenge of creating, producing, bottling and shipping a brand new vodka, from Ukraine to the UK, with no shortcuts.

“My first thought was ‘bottle up the stuff here, bring it across, change the name and that will be it’. But it became clear to me that I had to create a brand. I had to have my own liquid, my own recipe. I learned the ropes, bit by bit and made mistakes.”

The film tells a story that will be familiar to anyone who has started a new venture and experienced the excitement, the anxiety, the turmoil, and the pride in the final result.

“As a film-maker it became my duty to get carried away as an entrepreneur, because if I didn’t it wouldn’t have made a good film.”

On meeting Edelstyn in his Homerton studio, I am presented with a generous sample of Zorokovich 1917, in a shot glass, garnished with a gherkin. Edelstyn has had a whirlwind couple of years and explains what he sees as quite a surreal present.

“I’m a film-maker who’s now made his first feature film. It’s premiered at London Film Festival and it’s doing very well,” he says. “But I’m also selling vodka door to door in Stamford Hill. I’m trying to make sure that it is an interesting brand that can be a bit different from those other corporate giants.”

So much has changed for Edelstyn since that first journey to Ukraine, except the passion for film-making and a commitment to his grandmother’s memory and her place of birth.

“I like to keep documenting the process – we’re always filming. I want to make sure that it engages people and it’s doing something fresh. Hopefully we’re going to start putting money back into the village once we start turning a profit.

“I stumbled upon this bizarre and wonderful legacy and I’m just enjoying trying to make something of that.”

How To Re-Establish a Vodka Empire is showing at Hackney Picturehouse on Monday 19 March, the Rio Cinema on Saturday 24th, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts 16, 17, 18, 21 and 22 March.

For more information, go to My Vodka Empire.

Nuanced: George Clooney and Shailene Woodley in the Descendants

It has been seven years since Alexander Payne last donned his directorial hat for a major motion picture, namely the offbeat and existential yarn, Sideways. Payne received an Oscar for Sideways (it took home the gong for Best Adapted Screenplay) and seven years on, he has struck the right chord again with The Descendants, which is currently awash with awards and nominations.

If the film is going to spoil Oscar night for The Artist and turn Jean Dujardin’s expressive eyebrows into a frown, then it is likely to be in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role category. The Descendants is certainly a moving and often amusing movie, but it is George Clooney who elevates it to award-winning level.

This has been described as a role that Clooney was ‘born to play’, in which he delivers a ‘career-best’ performance. Suave quick-wittedness, tinged with quirky intensity, is the blueprint for what has made the 50-year-old one of the most consistently watchable actors in Hollywood and he has taken it all down a notch to serve up a world-weary version in his character Matt King, whose charm, energy and humour have been eroded by the life’s pressures.

We are introduced to Honolulu lawyer Matt as the sole trustee of a multi-million dollar plot of land – passed down by many generations linking back to an indigenous Hawaiian lady – the sale of which is up for tender and under-discussion amongst many family members, after long-running negotiations. However, the father-of-two is suffering huge emotional drain with his wife in coma after a speedboat accident and the backseat father is struggling to get to grips with the responsibility of looking after his two daughters; 10-year old Scottie (Amara Miller) and typically-troublesome teenager Alex (Shailene Woodley).

Aside from the obvious trauma involving the kids’ mother, Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), the main premise of the film explores the notion that having assets, money and living in an idyllic setting does not directly equate to happiness. Life’s cruel afflictions and family matters can make or break an individual’s contentment in the blink of an eye.

It is implied that, before the accident, Elizabeth and Matt have drifted apart and pulled in different directions: her as the thrill-seeking woman with a lust for life and him with his head in his work and land renovation proposals, letting the Hawaiian paradise pass him by.

Coinciding with his wife’s condition reaching a sadly hopeless state, Matt finds out that she had been having an affair and the story accelerates as Matt’s eyes are finally open and the bigger picture becomes clearer to him, in regard to his kids, the condition of his pre-accident marriage and the land he is on the verge of selling. A mission to track down the man who had been sleeping with his wife ensues, giving him a purpose amidst the hopelessness and an anger-fuelled distraction from the sadness of his predicament.

With his two newly-supportive daughters and the elder’s bluntly-honest stoner friend, Sid (Nick Krause), in tow, the mission in not just a journey toward the painful truth of the affair and the man at the heart of it, but an awakening for Matt and a route to re-engaging with his daughters and finding contentment beyond the imminent grief.

Maybe the fact the Clooney does not have kids has helped the convincing awkwardness of his hapless, but quick-learning father character, but he nails it with subtle expressions, pauses and evocation of desperation. Woodley also deserves a mention for her emotive role portraying the temperamental older daughter, revelling in the new-found bond with her forlorn father.

The Descendants is an understated and perceptive piece of filmmaking, focusing the lens on the how people deal with events thrust upon them, rather than the events themselves, and demonstrating how quickly priorities change.

The Descendants (15)
Directed by Alexander Payne
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer, Robert Forster, Amara Miller, Nick Crause, Patricia Hastie.
Running time: 115 minutes

The Descendants is showing at the Rio Cinema until Thursday 9 February and across London throughout February.

Deeply buried: Shame

London-born director/screenwriter Steve McQueen has followed up his debut feature – 2008’s Bafta-nominated Hunger – with another hard-hitting movie experience in this sexually-charged study of obsession.

If it wasn’t for the stiff competition this year, McQueen’s stark and moving film, Shame, about two very troubled siblings in New York, surely would have done more damage in this year’s award season. However, Michael Fassbender – who also stars in Hunger – did earn a Golden Globe nomination for his role as Brandon, a sex-addict and commitment-phobe whose unorthodox lifestyle is unsettled when his frantic and fragile sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan), turns up at his flat uninvited and in need of a place to stay.

Combine two of Hollywood’s up-and-coming stars, in Fassbender and Mulligan, with an absorbing script and some daring (and often nude) performances and you have a compelling hour and a half of cinema.

If New York is the “city that never sleeps”, then these two young people are as restless as their surroundings. Part-time club singer Sissy is a free spirit, who seems to have moved from city to city since the pair last met. Meanwhile, Brandon has developed an obsessive and incessant no-strings-attached sexual appetite.

Despite his surface-level appearance as a successful young bachelor – he is good-looking, has a top city job and seems to possess a weirdly seductive charm – deeper down resides a desperate and anxious man, who for some reason is struggling to connect with women in a way that allows him to forge relationships.

Brandon spends an unhealthy amount of time gratifying his sexual needs by ordering call-girls to his flat, masturbating with a kaleidoscopic range of porn material (both at home and at work) and picking up loose women in bars for one-night stands.

However, his compulsion is at least self-contained – that is until his sister arrives. This is when the feeling of shame rears its ugly head and becomes a burden on him; something which he also believes his attention-seeking and self-harming sister to be.

Sissy is needy and in Brandon’s fury he is only too eager to point this out. She is indeed a girl in need, but as Brandon is trying to deal with his own problems, he is not ready to face his responsibilities to her and the emotional baggage she brings.

After initially seeing the glitz of the Big Apple, we soon see the less glamorous side of Manhattan, as both Brandon and Sissy are being sucking into its sewer and Sissy’s cry for help needs to be answered if she is to survive. It should serve as a wake-up call for Brandon, but he is reluctant to face up to reality.

It is implied that there is an unseen back-story that has led to the character defects that are eating away at our two protagonists, but we are essentially left guessing as to what this might be and whether they can ever get their lives back on track, but it is clear that they need to help each other before it is too late.

Fassbender and Mulligan are wholly convincing in their visceral roles – the former delivers an intense performance that recalls Christian Bale at his best – and McQueen deserves to be spoken about as one of the best new British filmmakers, alongside the likes of Duncan Jones (Moon and Source Code).

Shame (18)
Directed by Steve McQueen
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale
Running time: 101 minutes

Shame is showing at the Rio Cinema until 26 Jan and at the Hackney Picturehouse and Rich Mix until 2 February.