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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 07/25/2008 : 23:47:42
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Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Based on a couple of the highly successful Louise Rennison chicklet tales, this is the latest from talented writer/diretor Gurinder Chadha. She's carving out a real niche for telling small British tales with real wit and charm, and if the odd dollop of cheese happens to fall into the mix, well, we all like a bit of dairy every once in while. Making it even more palatable is the stunningly understated cinematography by the very talented Mr Dick Pope who's lit many Mike Leigh films.
Fourteen has probably never been an easy age for girls - whether they were regarded as old maids in Elizabethan society, or as pubescence personified with all else taking a back seat to finding out what's going to attract someone yummy enough to snog. It's the age of finding out for yourself - striking out on the field study instead of listening to all that theory from textbooks, zines, parents and pals.
The small-town quartet at the heart of the film learn that the transition from childhood is paved with personal pain and a lotta laughs signposting the route. It's kind of Bridget Jones lite and a decade or so younger.
Chadha is clever enough to pace the story with enough variation to keep you hooked even while you pretty well know what's coming. She's also found a clutch of terrific actors, mostly new faces, who convey the charming face of teen self-obsession. It's also got the best performance by a cat I've ever seen. He's the Angus of the title.
I think the film won't hit the US until October. It's certainly worth a look-see.
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Demisemicenturian 
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 08/02/2008 : 01:46:15
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The film's a little awkward at times, but it's good that while 'the media' is villified for giving girls body issues 'it' (as if it's one entity) frequently makes an effort to encourage them to feel happy with themselves.
When Georgia (conveniently the actress's name as well as the character's -- notice how Jas calls her both G and GG?) opens the door to the 'builder', my heart leapt to see Steve Jones almost as much as if he turned up on my own doorstep. The rather predictable outcome of that storyline was also awesome.
However, even better than that was Angus. This is because my mum's cat (my cat Atlanta's aunt and my first cat Arcadia's daughter), the birth of whom I was at, is called Angus. She has got the same sort of fur (but brown tabby rather than grey) and like all my cats will follow us anywhere (though not needing a lead like the Angus of the film). This may seem a stupid point, but it was just a really nice moment to realise that that was the cat's name (I had assumed it was the boy's); I'll have to check that the first book was written less than fourteen years ago (coincidentally the age of the girls), in which case I used it first!
Talking of the age of the girls, I found it a little unlikely that any typical fourteen-year-old would not have a mobile 'phone, and the innocence of this lot was certainly a contrast with the fifteen-year-olds in Kidulthood, which I saw immediately afterwards.
The metre of the book's title works much better, and I find myself thinking of that as the film's title even though I have never seen a copy. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 08/02/2008 : 01:50:25
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Good, I was first. And my Angus looks a lot more Scottish, (partly) hence her name.  |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 08/02/2008 : 02:28:03
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| Forgot to say -- I also liked how they say that someone is from here if she wears a thong. |
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Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
