Jamie Bell's Terrific 2018
I watched two of Jamie Bell's new movies - Donnybrook and Skin - over the past weekend. Both movies had their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Jamie was able to attend the screening of Donnybrook, but he was called back earlier to London to shoot that Elton John biopic, so he was not able to attend the screening of Skin.
To prepare for the trip, I brought my copy of the book the Eagle and my customized Esca figure. In the past I was able to see Jamie in person twice, once for a taping of a talk show in 2011, then last year at a screening of Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. Both time I was not able to approach Jamie to get a signature or a selfie. And this year, I finally did, but, I will explain it later.
Sep. 7, 2018
The first movie I saw was Donnybrook. In this movie, Jamie played a former U.S. marine grappling with economic hardships. In the movie, he was living with a girlfriend, who had two children with a former partner. But I didn't get all those back stories until the Q&A session. Anyway, that's my major problem with the movie. The director/writer Tim Sutton made odd choices. We know the movie happened in some really poor state in the US, but we were never told where it was (or did I miss the clue?). Anyway, the movie feels cold and detached from reality, there was even a fantasy feel because I still have trouble believing Jamie's character can beat all those tough guys in a brutal cage gang fight scene.
In the Q&A session, Sutton claimed he was kinda borrowing from Apocalypse Now, but he admitted he was fully aware his Donnybrook was not a masterpiece. The way the director approached the story had a bit pretentious feel. In some parts, his visual presentation makes me think of Lars von Trier and a bit Darren Aronofsky. There's also an arrogance about the director during the Q&A. Then when I rewatched the video I took, I noticed although his voice was calm, his hands were shaking constantly. I am not sure if he was really nervous or he has Parkinson's disease.
Donnybrook is full of plot device characters and subplots. In the end, Sutton failed to tie up all the loose ends. As a viewer, I often feel distracted from the main story. There are a lot of violent scenes which just become redundant. Sutton also threw a weird sex scene and a nude scene (of course it's a female) which do not contribute much to the main story. The movie has a few emotional moments (one with a grieving Jamie Bell) and a terrific American anthem scene. Both Jamie Bell and Margret Qualley gave good performances. I will even say Margret Qualley was better, partially because she was given more to do in the movie before the climax scene.
Here I want to talk about Margret Qualley a bit more. After the screening, I noticed that Andie MacDowell was in the theatre too, and she was talking with Margret Qualley. Then I googled their names and I found out that Andie is Margret's mother.
Margret had a few tough scenes in the movie (one involved unnecessary nudity, it feels it was put there to dramatize the plot), so the director praised her. Then there was this sweet moment between Jamie and Margret. They reached out to each other and touched hands in a comradery way. It was cute.
For fans of Esca from The Eagle, there were some tender scenes between Jamie's character and his son (not biological son) in Donnybrook. It feels like an AU of Esca and the Seal boy. I will not reveal much, but when you watch it, you will notice.
Variety has reported there are five bidders for Donnybrook, so I guess the movie will find a distributor. Also Jamie Jamie has been a MVP of this year’s TIFF. He executive produced “Teen Spirit,” which was sold to $3 million. Anyway, everything is looking good for Jamie this year.
Now my encounter with Jamie. The actress who played Jamie's character's girlfriend actually sat in my row. During the Q&A, Jamie gave her a shout-out. Then after the screening, Jamie hung around on the stage. I approached him with my book and cell phone in my hands. When I asked Jamie to sign my book, I pointed to him that I got Channing's signature on the book as well. He replied by saying he noticed that. Then I tried get a selfie, but the timing was not right. Eventually I did get one but it only showed the top of my head lol. Around that time, two Japanese women were taking selfies with Jamie. Later on, one of them posted a picture on Instagram. She blurred out her own face, but here you can see my book. Seven years, I finally got both Channing and Jamie's signatures. Next time, maybe Mr. Donald Sutherland?
I also had a brief exchange of words with Jamie. Some supporting actor from Donnybrook came on the stage to say hello to Jamie. I overheard Jamie saying he had to fly back to London the next day, so I guessed he is filming that Elton John movie. I was a bit nervous because I forgot the name of the movie. Well, to be honest, I am not a fan of Taron Egerton, so I didn't bother to remember the title. But now, if Jamie can get an Oscar nomination this year, when the promotion for Rocketman starts next year (current release date is May 31, 2019), the press will not overlook Jamie.
Here are two video clips I took.
Sep. 8, 2018
Since I had already learnt that Jamie would not be there, so I decided to leave my Esca figure at the hotel. Maybe next time I can ask Jamie to hold "little Esca" and pose a picture for me.
Skin is the true-life story of reformed white-supremacist Bryon Widner (played by Jamie Bell) a young man raised by skinheads, for whom turning his back on hatred and violence meant undergoing painful and expensive operations to remove the tattoos that signified his terrible past life - a process only possible with the support of a Black activist.
This movie checked all the boxes of an Oscar bait role. You see, based on a real person's life story, Jamie's physical transformation (tattoos, weight gain), meaty role with character development etc. Comparing with Donnybrook, this story feels more personal, and there are enough drama and lots of physical pain shown on screen. Also Jamie got naked three times, one is almost full frontal with his hands covering his balls in an intense interrogation scene. There is also a love story. This time Jamie's character's love interest is a plus-size woman with three kids. I love the actress, in fact I think she's the second best onscreen love interest of Jamie's movie roles, only after Channing Tatum (my bias). The actress' name is Danielle Macdonald, I think she's far better than Chrissy Metz from This is Us.
Anyway, I am sure we will hear a lot more about Skin in the upcoming Awards season. I think Jamie has a chance to get his first Oscar nomination, a BAFTA norm is guaranteed. Hey, he even got a BAFTA nom for that Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (which is not very good IMO), so why not for Skin?
One interesting aspect about this movie is that it is written and directed by an Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv. This is his first American movie. One of the movie's producers is Sting's wife Trudie Styler. Trudie also produced Channing's A Guide to Recognize Your Saints 12 years ago.
Anyway, I feel Skin will go somewhere although some people might not like it because there are a lot of white evil characters in it. I really don't want to put the word "white" there. However, in today's society, some will bring race, gender and religion into any conversation. Also I wonder if some will complain why not give more screen time to the supporting black activist role. We shall see. I think there is a possibility "Skin" will be like "Three Billboards", some people hated "Three Billboards" for similar reasons. But for me, I think Skin is a well made movie with an outstanding performance from Jamie Bell. It got standing standing ovation from the audience in my theatre.
Update: A24 and DirecTV have partnered for the North American rights to TIFF title Skin. It will have a 2019 release date. But will they have limited screening before the end of this year to be eligible for Oscar?
To prepare for the trip, I brought my copy of the book the Eagle and my customized Esca figure. In the past I was able to see Jamie in person twice, once for a taping of a talk show in 2011, then last year at a screening of Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. Both time I was not able to approach Jamie to get a signature or a selfie. And this year, I finally did, but, I will explain it later.
Sep. 7, 2018
The first movie I saw was Donnybrook. In this movie, Jamie played a former U.S. marine grappling with economic hardships. In the movie, he was living with a girlfriend, who had two children with a former partner. But I didn't get all those back stories until the Q&A session. Anyway, that's my major problem with the movie. The director/writer Tim Sutton made odd choices. We know the movie happened in some really poor state in the US, but we were never told where it was (or did I miss the clue?). Anyway, the movie feels cold and detached from reality, there was even a fantasy feel because I still have trouble believing Jamie's character can beat all those tough guys in a brutal cage gang fight scene.
In the Q&A session, Sutton claimed he was kinda borrowing from Apocalypse Now, but he admitted he was fully aware his Donnybrook was not a masterpiece. The way the director approached the story had a bit pretentious feel. In some parts, his visual presentation makes me think of Lars von Trier and a bit Darren Aronofsky. There's also an arrogance about the director during the Q&A. Then when I rewatched the video I took, I noticed although his voice was calm, his hands were shaking constantly. I am not sure if he was really nervous or he has Parkinson's disease.
Donnybrook is full of plot device characters and subplots. In the end, Sutton failed to tie up all the loose ends. As a viewer, I often feel distracted from the main story. There are a lot of violent scenes which just become redundant. Sutton also threw a weird sex scene and a nude scene (of course it's a female) which do not contribute much to the main story. The movie has a few emotional moments (one with a grieving Jamie Bell) and a terrific American anthem scene. Both Jamie Bell and Margret Qualley gave good performances. I will even say Margret Qualley was better, partially because she was given more to do in the movie before the climax scene.
Here I want to talk about Margret Qualley a bit more. After the screening, I noticed that Andie MacDowell was in the theatre too, and she was talking with Margret Qualley. Then I googled their names and I found out that Andie is Margret's mother.
Margret had a few tough scenes in the movie (one involved unnecessary nudity, it feels it was put there to dramatize the plot), so the director praised her. Then there was this sweet moment between Jamie and Margret. They reached out to each other and touched hands in a comradery way. It was cute.
For fans of Esca from The Eagle, there were some tender scenes between Jamie's character and his son (not biological son) in Donnybrook. It feels like an AU of Esca and the Seal boy. I will not reveal much, but when you watch it, you will notice.
Variety has reported there are five bidders for Donnybrook, so I guess the movie will find a distributor. Also Jamie Jamie has been a MVP of this year’s TIFF. He executive produced “Teen Spirit,” which was sold to $3 million. Anyway, everything is looking good for Jamie this year.
Now my encounter with Jamie. The actress who played Jamie's character's girlfriend actually sat in my row. During the Q&A, Jamie gave her a shout-out. Then after the screening, Jamie hung around on the stage. I approached him with my book and cell phone in my hands. When I asked Jamie to sign my book, I pointed to him that I got Channing's signature on the book as well. He replied by saying he noticed that. Then I tried get a selfie, but the timing was not right. Eventually I did get one but it only showed the top of my head lol. Around that time, two Japanese women were taking selfies with Jamie. Later on, one of them posted a picture on Instagram. She blurred out her own face, but here you can see my book. Seven years, I finally got both Channing and Jamie's signatures. Next time, maybe Mr. Donald Sutherland?
I also had a brief exchange of words with Jamie. Some supporting actor from Donnybrook came on the stage to say hello to Jamie. I overheard Jamie saying he had to fly back to London the next day, so I guessed he is filming that Elton John movie. I was a bit nervous because I forgot the name of the movie. Well, to be honest, I am not a fan of Taron Egerton, so I didn't bother to remember the title. But now, if Jamie can get an Oscar nomination this year, when the promotion for Rocketman starts next year (current release date is May 31, 2019), the press will not overlook Jamie.
Here are two video clips I took.
Click to viewSep. 8, 2018
Since I had already learnt that Jamie would not be there, so I decided to leave my Esca figure at the hotel. Maybe next time I can ask Jamie to hold "little Esca" and pose a picture for me.
Skin is the true-life story of reformed white-supremacist Bryon Widner (played by Jamie Bell) a young man raised by skinheads, for whom turning his back on hatred and violence meant undergoing painful and expensive operations to remove the tattoos that signified his terrible past life - a process only possible with the support of a Black activist.
This movie checked all the boxes of an Oscar bait role. You see, based on a real person's life story, Jamie's physical transformation (tattoos, weight gain), meaty role with character development etc. Comparing with Donnybrook, this story feels more personal, and there are enough drama and lots of physical pain shown on screen. Also Jamie got naked three times, one is almost full frontal with his hands covering his balls in an intense interrogation scene. There is also a love story. This time Jamie's character's love interest is a plus-size woman with three kids. I love the actress, in fact I think she's the second best onscreen love interest of Jamie's movie roles, only after Channing Tatum (my bias). The actress' name is Danielle Macdonald, I think she's far better than Chrissy Metz from This is Us.
Anyway, I am sure we will hear a lot more about Skin in the upcoming Awards season. I think Jamie has a chance to get his first Oscar nomination, a BAFTA norm is guaranteed. Hey, he even got a BAFTA nom for that Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (which is not very good IMO), so why not for Skin?
One interesting aspect about this movie is that it is written and directed by an Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv. This is his first American movie. One of the movie's producers is Sting's wife Trudie Styler. Trudie also produced Channing's A Guide to Recognize Your Saints 12 years ago.
Anyway, I feel Skin will go somewhere although some people might not like it because there are a lot of white evil characters in it. I really don't want to put the word "white" there. However, in today's society, some will bring race, gender and religion into any conversation. Also I wonder if some will complain why not give more screen time to the supporting black activist role. We shall see. I think there is a possibility "Skin" will be like "Three Billboards", some people hated "Three Billboards" for similar reasons. But for me, I think Skin is a well made movie with an outstanding performance from Jamie Bell. It got standing standing ovation from the audience in my theatre.
Update: A24 and DirecTV have partnered for the North American rights to TIFF title Skin. It will have a 2019 release date. But will they have limited screening before the end of this year to be eligible for Oscar?