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SOUNDS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT (12A) 93min 0000 . I' . I l- _"x ° lt‘i‘U“ ' I ' V‘tki : '\“\()'L‘ i g ' w UK. . "7.1 . 1.. g, iris. Name Jamie J Johnson . ”1.33“ Born 14 September 1976. , . t .1“ " r . 'iiiiiiiwtlfk Hammersmith, London i . _;' i ii 1.1‘ ll V .l ”I”

. 0 Background The son of a . -' . = ~ ' painter. Johnson initially followed .. : .~ in his father‘s footsteps before

T m” ”it'w‘ deciding that movmg pictures if'w' .iuf ‘T"i.'.L1lt:illi‘.ll‘.f» that were more to his liking. and '1 '4. ' H. " i "T” started creating flick books. He ' ”4" ' "dim“: caught Channel 4's attention With " '.' f?" ' "r 7‘ “I" ””5“ a series of zero-budget Video "' ."w’ 11m” ‘fanZines'. on subjects ranging

from bad TV to mini golf, and while the films had a definite homemade feel they also

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' ' w 53,1." fuiirtr 2:‘,i l 3?; . , , _ ’3 , L _ . 1 t” )f H established Johnson as a director STARTREK "‘ " I“ I“ "‘:"{]:‘(H' "m of undeniable VISlOTl. His first film ' .1. "' l ’y“"l|li(4y I k’itli “(I \)r proper was the 2003 BAFTA- (12A) 126mm .... ' " . w’ l r )i‘f‘f‘tlli'lilfS. Johnson

Star Trek is something that didn't appear to need rebooting. The show

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each iiirli\.itliia|'t: high 'It‘. .i".l t‘eartaihes; tliriiiitjh the

nominated short Holiday Around My Bedroom. a fantastical documentary that achieved a

debuted in 1966 and over the next 40 odd years, we've had 79 episodes in .i -,. ‘llfi’ «i of William Shatner, several TV spin-off series (The Next Generation and vki'i ; .-.itl: .i tiiiy. two man crew

balance of warm sentiment and imaginative visuals akin to the

' ' .. ,i... ~ ~ fir» . Voyager etc) and ten-mowes featuring a myriad of Starfleet employees. ii. .. . .J . n. )l. t rapt. .(, thi. work of Michel Gondry. This franchise had ‘tired formula’ written all over it. ilVT-“ildf‘l‘i at then most (iéllidltl and . . . . . g , _, . g \ What's he up to now? Havmg Enter Lost creator JJ Abrams, whose movre credits, MiSSion Impossrble l m i" .ii .. uriinw if the deep issues . . . . . . , , j . , , . discovered Junior EurOVi3ion and III and Cloverfield, have not matched his TV credentials, that is until now. 'i .l . riii llftl‘i ltf‘.(ftl| are arguably

its huge cult following in

What Abrams has done With Star Trek is not Simply take old characters ‘a Wat). .' :;iii:h :i lighthearted filiii . . . . ., . , continental Europe. Johnson and give them a new sheen; he has reinvented the whole dynamic of the .u ml: It'f‘itll, .:()lll(lll‘i. Ultimately . , , j ., obtained behind-the-scenes USS Enterprise, pretty much all for the good. .‘w ,iii'x ‘l .:. it i Johnson 3, <jl(?(lll that access the result is his debut Chris Pine as Captain James Tiberius Kirk is more like Harrison Ford’s W- ill imii t attempt to 5;!llll)lll‘, the '

feature. Sounds Like Teen Spirit.

On the value of Junior Eurovlslon ‘It is a very nurturing environment the kids do genuinely have the best week of their lives. and they go off on all these museum visits and cultural things. Also. there were loads of Eurovision-obsessed journalists there. and one in particular said "I love seeing all Europe come together on one stage after all these years of war". and that resonated with me. I thought, “It is kitsch and silly. but it's also got this nice element."'

Han Solo than Shatner’s space commander. Hitherto, known mainly for li'é-f;frlllilll-’ iii «if the ,niiiig people. appearing in dull romantic comedies with Anne Hathaway and Lindsay Lohan, Pine is a major revelation as the rebellious youth who struggles to live with the fact that his space-hopping father was killed by Romulan villain Nero (3 tattooed Eric Bana) when saving the lives of his crew at the moment of Kirk‘s birth.

His life as an outcast in Iowa is paralleled with the emotional struggles faced by human-Vulcan hybrid Spock. In this pointed-ear role, Heroes star Zachary Quinto is uncannily reminiscent of Leonard Nimoy, which makes sense when the latter turns up to turn this adrenaline packed adventure on its head, as Abrams manages a quirk in the space-time continuum to make this both sequel and prequel, while most importantly ensuring that Star Trek will be this summer's The Dark Knight. (Kaleem Aftab)

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;.: .. .i v ‘E On being an obloctlvo CH RI. documentarlan‘ldon'tthinkl (15) 92mm 0” did a very good job. When one of »\_l.ll\'.2' i " *i' L? waft-4; * " fr. i .i ‘:i.’?%; rampeis ()"er: and The Last of the contGStamsv Marina, W33 WW. 3.“ \i-r‘f'e- .i a x .“.t' .i“..ii' l,t:'..'.’€7(:ll a ,ctiiig inan. Chen, and telling me abOUt her absent dad' .i.i~.-i".i. l mi :iw l "mu: .i'i'i its; .iffe'” at'i. Stephen Frea's' film is a Staned crying, and She was ”(8' "“l M .i'xi .‘iz...:l. Mii :. Tt' i'wi'ta’. ni‘ atiei'rii and loss; themes that "Come on Jamie "'3 fine, don't be , ~._,., .. , f. ‘,.,,.,_,._ , my, ,5; an idiot."Which was kind offunny.

vii. Liwielk- Pfeiffer inihues the character being comforted by a 14'l/t3‘ar'0'd

" t ‘1' l "i .i'lil "rSSltllT'r'l sa'l'iess, t’itialties that set her apart from the Who was aCtuaHY living through it. 1' °. » ill‘ 'e ' i . fit-u Bell»: El ‘T/l'tiéi era; Rupert Friend. as the eftelhinate Interesting fact Jarvis Cocker

' ' ixir ‘lt' l r l. .i ii I .‘.‘7{tlll‘z’:_‘$f). was approached to provide

.; .. i-. , .i l‘ . '-'.i'f; titan tw- his; source material: here narration for the film. but he

. '_ : l a. aces .il"l lé: Leas ZiClllilelllOll by suggested that it would be more . . ' l ,. , v'ai v. 2:33) t)ti<;.,‘essttil is in itis appropriate to have the director's l . z .i 'a r xii, is this v'OlC‘:Q'.’€;l own voice on such a unique film. l ‘. “.2. .i 2.: 'f _, f :; .‘ir ‘. ,wsrsgi". {inf} :ets (tor/n both the The producers agreed. and \;_.t\f z-‘q. T'vo : "-- : .1". wt {,ir" >r'riar“;es. A<_l(litionall,_ some of Johnson's voiceover made it to t'w iv." {"3" i "new. ' : .i'f .. :i' ‘.‘i;i 123'“ .rsewe Dem.” 'Kath,’ Batesi. the final film. (Paul Gallagher) are name: if. :;‘.e>':x f.:‘~.« : '. ' "we"; tells To the main protagonists I Sounds Like Teen Spirit is on ifii‘e' “six“a .prlis T“ r: :4: .1. f"- .:'te"‘:at:_,1.irai;h, and costumes go selected released from Fri 8 May. ( . . Lin ~ .. ,. less See review, left. I St" t‘ 5388:“ ' il.’

30 Apr—14 May 2009 TH! LIST 45