Tag Archives: Danny Boyle

And They’re Off! The Olympics 2012 Starts

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Starting from today, London is the most exciting place in the world. The Olympics has started and Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony is underway.

Evoking Britain’s green and pleasant land, choirs sang the national anthems of each country in the United Kingdom with their respective flowers which were: Danny Boy, Flower of Scotland, Bread of Heaven and England’s rose, Scotland’s thistle, Wales’ daffodil and Northern Ireland’s flax. There was even 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens and nine geese.

Then the set was stage as a volunteer cast of two and a half thousand people acted out the Industrial revolution. The cast are dressed like peasants and rich men from another era gave the audience a history lesson to the rousing beat of the drums. The theme of the opening ceremony is the Isles of Wonder, inspired by William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. Mark Rylance had to drop out of the main part performing a monologue from The Tempest as his step-daughter died. Our heart goes out to him.

Direct descendants from the suffragette movement also took to the stage. Then there was a moment of silence for all of those who have sacrificed their life for their country. The epic opening ceremony cost £27 million

Then there was a splash of colour for the 60’s. 60,000 people inside the stadium watched the spectacle and another 4 billion watched on TV.

Molten Olympic rings were forged by craftsmen and then rose from the ground, creating an amazing spectacle. An emotional moment. The Olympic rings represent the five continents.

Then Daniel Craig as James Bond went to Buckingham Palace to get the Queen (yes, that one) with the corgis snapping at his heels. A helicopter ride later across London’s landmarks lead to The Queen and James Bond parachuting from a helicopter.

The Union Jack was then carried in by servicemen from the RAF, Army and the Navy.

Then the NHS and achievements of children’s books were represented while Mike Oldfields played ‘Tubular Bells’. This included Peter Pan and JK Rowling was there. NHS was then displayed in lights. Kids jumped on beds while nurses danced. Then children’s nightmares were represented by Lord Voldemort, Cruella De Vil and child snatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Then a few Mary Poppins were dancing on stage and the nightmares were chased away. 10,000 people have taken part in the Opening Ceremony in total. The audience roared as the homage to the NHS ended. All of the nurses and doctors were real NHS workers! They all rehearsed for 350 hours.

Then Rowan Atkinson (as Mr Bean) played along while the National Symphony Orchestra during Chariots of Fire. Then scene from the film were played with Mr Bean cut into them. Very funny.

Then a typical British household was represented along with British TV shows and music from the past. Gregory’s Girl, Charlie Chaplin, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who and David Bowie were all represented. Every audience member was taken through their childhood.

The Sex Pistols, texting, Soul II Soul and The Eurythmics played as the dancers rocked out and an actor and actress texted each other and then kissed. Famous kisses were then played in the background. Including that of Kate Middleton and Prince William. The journey of music and dance was told from the 60’s to the present day. Danny Boyle even got Trainspotting, the film that made him famous, in.

Then East London’s Dizze Rascal took to the stage. Dizzie was a good choice and then Amy Winehouse played. A homage to the singer who died last year.

The inventor of the internet Sir Tim Berners-Lee appeared and was paid homage to as everyone cheered. David Beckham, East London boy, brought the torch to the Olympic Stadium.

There was a minute silence for those who have passed away and then Emile Sande then sang Abide By Me. The dancers were amazing and there were some brilliant Tai Chi moves.

Then the athletes arrived. The athletes from each country arrived at the stadium carrying their flag as their country was called out.

The opening ceremony was full of British in-jokes and fantastic performances. Frost Magazine are proud to be British and will constantly be blogging about the Olympics. Let us know your opinions and thoughts.

127 Hours {Film Review}

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Danny Boyle is known to experiment in each different genre. He’s tackled thrillers (Shallow Grave), drama (Trainspotting), horror (28 Days Later), science-fiction (Sunshine) and even a bit of romance (Slumdog Millionaire). He’s also known to experiment in film techniques, always making each of his films different compared to the last.

After the critically acclaimed and award winning Slumdog Millionaire, the director has decided to tackle a personal story – one he’s reportedly wanted to make for 4 years – based on the book by “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” by Aron Ralston. It’s like the Long Way Round, only it leads to a frighteningly jarring result.

The film opens up with varied shots of crowds of people at a stadium, subway, etc. This tells us that this could’ve happened to anyone and at any time. Unfortunately, it happened to Aron Ralston.

James Franco plays our main protagonist, and he’s incredibly likable from the start, though you can tell his daredevil antics would be the cost of the soon-to-be unfortunate accident. Speeding on his mountain bike, he ends up crashing – but it doesn’t stop him. He even laughs about it and takes a picture of himself of the aftermath.

The man is full of energy, and can’t help but be admired for it. Even helping two girls find a specific location, and showing them the ‘cool’ way to go in, it’s all to show you a good time -until his arms gets crushed by a boulder and things get weird and unsettling.

He makes every attempt to get the boulder off, and you start to feel for him for trying. He eventually starts to hallucinate, grow tired, slowly run out of food and water (so much so that clips for certain ads for drinks pop up to empathise how thirsty he is). It gets really emotional and powerful as he starts to record himself from his video camera, even going far as interviewing himself. Then the inevitable scene where he decides to cut his arm off, and it’s teeth-grindingly visceral. It doesn’t show much, but when it does, it’s quite cringing and I advise it’s not for the faint of heart! This is a story about survival, even going to extreme lengths to achieving it.

The cinematography is gorgeous. You admire the scenery as Ralston treks along the rocky landscape, and it even makes you claustrophobic when you’re stuck with him. The music by Slumdog composer, A.R. Rahman, makes the music atmospheric and go with Ralston’s emotions. The camera and editing techniques are relatively simple, but effective, to make sure it didn’t feel fake or Hollywoodised.

The breaking of the narrative with flashbacks only gives depth to the character of Ralston, and Franco really does make his career’s best performance. The only small criticism I would make is, I would’ve liked to see more of Ralston’s back-story, what really drove him to being the person he is. Though as it is, it’s still a great film and Danny Boyle gets top credit for his direction.

Overall: A truly inspiring and uplifting film, in a different sense of the word. It’s like an underdog story, only you’re not rooting for an athlete/boxer etc. but a man who wanted to make the most out of life. A great start for 2011 (even though it did come out last year in USA), and I’m looking forward for the many films to come.

4 stars!