Today's New York Post headline about the death of actor David Carradine—"Hung Fu"—is just too perfect to have been conceived in a day. There's no way Murdoch's reliably inappropriate display-copy punsters didn't have that one in reserve—in the same way that most publications have obits of ailing notables waiting to go—hoping to God that Carradine would die exactly the way he did so that nugget of brilliance wouldn't go to waste. Not to be outdone, we've come up with our own stockpile of headlines to use if other beloved TV stars die in horrible, unexpected ways. Swine-felled Flu claims Michael Richards as latest victim M*A*S*H*E*D Alda Alda dies in stampede Everybody Shoves Raymond Ray Romano pushed onto track Two Half Men Sheen and Cryer die together—or rather not Family Tied Suicide pact at show reunion Family Splatters—Did I Do That?...
- 6/5/2009
- Vanity Fair
Among U.S. moviegoers, "Nil by Mouth" will likely cause exit by droves.
A brutally stark slice of lowlife in modern-day London, Sony Pictures Classics may be well advised to provide English subtitles for American audiences who will have trouble discerning more than the f-word, as well as other such four-letter elegantry as "bird," "cunt," "gear," etc., in this thickly accented opus. Further, viewers who actually figure out what the title of this Competition entrant means should hire out as translators for their aural acuity.
First-time writer-director Gary Oldman demonstrates similar strengths and weaknesses as his other acting peers who have stepped behind the camera. In short, Oldman has fashioned a film that is exceedingly well-acted but ponderously paced, unsurely visualized and narratively padded. In subject matter, druggies, and in style, neo-"Pulp Fiction", "Nil by Mouth" certainly fits the bill for fashionable film-festival inclusion.
In this story of crackers, smackers, wankers and creepers, Ray Winston stars as Raymond, a pug gone pudgy who hits the bottle and then hits his wife. It's not only the demon booze that fuddles and faggles Raymond, but the low sorts he hangs out with, principally Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles), a pathetic drug addict who sponges off his mom, while downspiraling on a £60-a-day habit.
Careening through their daily downslides, "Nil by Mouth" is an unrelenting depiction of sordid sorts and their loutish behaviors.
After a while, the violence and maraudings become as tedious as does the drug-life documentation. Unlike "Trainspotting", "Nil By Mouth" has no coherent point of view or sensibility, only a stance and style.
Plaudits to Oldman and the players for the stark and eloquent performances: Winston is terrific as the lunkheaded Raymond, while Creed-Miles is eerily credible as the dazed junkie Billy.
NIL BY MOUTH
In Competition
Sony Pictures Classics
SE 8 Group
Producers Luc Besson, Douglas Urbanski
Gary Oldman
Screenwriter-director Gary Oldman
Co-producer Hilary Heath
Associate producer Marc Frydman
Director of photography Ron Fortunato
Production designer Hugo Lucy-Wyhowski
Music Eric Clapton
Music supervisor Margot Core
Editor Brad Fuller
Costume designer Barbara Kidd
Sound recordist Jim Greenhorn
Cast:
Raymond Ray Winston
Billy Charlie Creed-Miles
Valerie Kathy Burke
Janet Laila Morse
Kath: Edna Dore
Paula: Chrissie Cotterill
Angus Jon Morrison
Mark Jamie Forman
Danny Steve Sweeney
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
A brutally stark slice of lowlife in modern-day London, Sony Pictures Classics may be well advised to provide English subtitles for American audiences who will have trouble discerning more than the f-word, as well as other such four-letter elegantry as "bird," "cunt," "gear," etc., in this thickly accented opus. Further, viewers who actually figure out what the title of this Competition entrant means should hire out as translators for their aural acuity.
First-time writer-director Gary Oldman demonstrates similar strengths and weaknesses as his other acting peers who have stepped behind the camera. In short, Oldman has fashioned a film that is exceedingly well-acted but ponderously paced, unsurely visualized and narratively padded. In subject matter, druggies, and in style, neo-"Pulp Fiction", "Nil by Mouth" certainly fits the bill for fashionable film-festival inclusion.
In this story of crackers, smackers, wankers and creepers, Ray Winston stars as Raymond, a pug gone pudgy who hits the bottle and then hits his wife. It's not only the demon booze that fuddles and faggles Raymond, but the low sorts he hangs out with, principally Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles), a pathetic drug addict who sponges off his mom, while downspiraling on a £60-a-day habit.
Careening through their daily downslides, "Nil by Mouth" is an unrelenting depiction of sordid sorts and their loutish behaviors.
After a while, the violence and maraudings become as tedious as does the drug-life documentation. Unlike "Trainspotting", "Nil By Mouth" has no coherent point of view or sensibility, only a stance and style.
Plaudits to Oldman and the players for the stark and eloquent performances: Winston is terrific as the lunkheaded Raymond, while Creed-Miles is eerily credible as the dazed junkie Billy.
NIL BY MOUTH
In Competition
Sony Pictures Classics
SE 8 Group
Producers Luc Besson, Douglas Urbanski
Gary Oldman
Screenwriter-director Gary Oldman
Co-producer Hilary Heath
Associate producer Marc Frydman
Director of photography Ron Fortunato
Production designer Hugo Lucy-Wyhowski
Music Eric Clapton
Music supervisor Margot Core
Editor Brad Fuller
Costume designer Barbara Kidd
Sound recordist Jim Greenhorn
Cast:
Raymond Ray Winston
Billy Charlie Creed-Miles
Valerie Kathy Burke
Janet Laila Morse
Kath: Edna Dore
Paula: Chrissie Cotterill
Angus Jon Morrison
Mark Jamie Forman
Danny Steve Sweeney
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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