Directed by Jamie Thraves, the Game of Thrones actor’s sketches about the travails of mid-range celebrity are full of likable self-mockery
Like Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm or Matt LeBlanc in Episodes, the Irish actor Aidan Gillen plays an actor called Aidan Gillen in this scrappy, low-fi meta-musing on fame and life as a jobbing actor. Gillen, who co-wrote the script with director Jamie Thraves, runs the risk here of looking like a raging narcissist by making a film all about himself. Instead he sketches the travails of mid-range celebrity with likable self-mockery. The film’s running gag is that his character is constantly being recognised as “that fella off the TV” by people who then won’t believe it’s really him. “Nah. The guy I’m thinking of is much younger looking than you.”
Pickups is Gillen’s third film with Thraves, after The Low Down and Treacle Jr,...
Like Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm or Matt LeBlanc in Episodes, the Irish actor Aidan Gillen plays an actor called Aidan Gillen in this scrappy, low-fi meta-musing on fame and life as a jobbing actor. Gillen, who co-wrote the script with director Jamie Thraves, runs the risk here of looking like a raging narcissist by making a film all about himself. Instead he sketches the travails of mid-range celebrity with likable self-mockery. The film’s running gag is that his character is constantly being recognised as “that fella off the TV” by people who then won’t believe it’s really him. “Nah. The guy I’m thinking of is much younger looking than you.”
Pickups is Gillen’s third film with Thraves, after The Low Down and Treacle Jr,...
- 10/23/2017
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Sixteen years on, this Film4 flick about the loves, lives and drinking habits of young Londoners feels decidedly dated, if oddly watchable
Few organisations within the British film industry have done more to establish themselves as part of the cinematic landscape than Film4, thanks in large part to four decades of impressively consistent branding (the company must now be entitled to take ownership, Yves Klein-style, of their preferred shade of red).
This month, it releases a slew of titles from its back catalogue on iTunes and Amazon and – perhaps recognising that iconic brands are built on more than just their hits – they’re not all canonical classics. Take 2001’s The Low Down, the largely forgotten feature debut of British director Jamie Thraves. Made around the turn of the millennium, the film was one of a rash of Blair-era paeans to the lives, loves and drinking habits of the kinds of...
Few organisations within the British film industry have done more to establish themselves as part of the cinematic landscape than Film4, thanks in large part to four decades of impressively consistent branding (the company must now be entitled to take ownership, Yves Klein-style, of their preferred shade of red).
This month, it releases a slew of titles from its back catalogue on iTunes and Amazon and – perhaps recognising that iconic brands are built on more than just their hits – they’re not all canonical classics. Take 2001’s The Low Down, the largely forgotten feature debut of British director Jamie Thraves. Made around the turn of the millennium, the film was one of a rash of Blair-era paeans to the lives, loves and drinking habits of the kinds of...
- 8/20/2016
- by Charlie Lyne
- The Guardian - Film News
As mumblecore legends Andrew Bujalski and Joe Swanberg release new films, Computer Chess and Drinking Buddies, Ryan Gilbey talks to them about the meandering legacy of a movement that irritated as many as it, um, inspired
Cinema history does not want for new waves. But the batch of lo-fi American movies referred to during the past decade as "mumblecore" may be the first example of a no-wave: a movement without movement, a revolution only in the sense of something going round and round with little discernible progress. All of the artists associated with it have moved on to some extent. Andrew Bujalski, the most skilful of the mumblecore group, has made the playful, experimental Computer Chess, released later this month. The prolific Joe Swanberg, whose loosey-goosey methods on early movies such as Hannah Takes the Stairs extended to living with his cast and crew in one apartment during production, directed...
Cinema history does not want for new waves. But the batch of lo-fi American movies referred to during the past decade as "mumblecore" may be the first example of a no-wave: a movement without movement, a revolution only in the sense of something going round and round with little discernible progress. All of the artists associated with it have moved on to some extent. Andrew Bujalski, the most skilful of the mumblecore group, has made the playful, experimental Computer Chess, released later this month. The prolific Joe Swanberg, whose loosey-goosey methods on early movies such as Hannah Takes the Stairs extended to living with his cast and crew in one apartment during production, directed...
- 11/8/2013
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
As Mister John gets set for it’s UK theatrical release, we had the opportunity to sit down and discuss the forthcoming feature with its director – and married couple – Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy.
Mister John tells the story of Gerry (Aidan Gillen), who flies out to Singapore following his brother’s untimely death to take over his business and accompany his grieving family, where a crisis of identity ensues. Lawlor and Molloy discuss the casting of Gillen for the lead role, as well as how working so closely together affects their personal lives, while the former also tells us exactly what he thinks of Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln…
The film begins with a dead body floating in a lake. Can you tell us about the decision behind that as an opening shot?
Christine: Well John is such a powerful presence in the film and there is an argument...
Mister John tells the story of Gerry (Aidan Gillen), who flies out to Singapore following his brother’s untimely death to take over his business and accompany his grieving family, where a crisis of identity ensues. Lawlor and Molloy discuss the casting of Gillen for the lead role, as well as how working so closely together affects their personal lives, while the former also tells us exactly what he thinks of Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln…
The film begins with a dead body floating in a lake. Can you tell us about the decision behind that as an opening shot?
Christine: Well John is such a powerful presence in the film and there is an argument...
- 9/24/2013
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
This sharply observed debut about a struggling standup comic is an interesting rumination on modern London life
This low-key character study from debutant Tom Shkolnik proves quietly impressive in its ruminations on latter-day London identity. In office hours, Ed (Edward Hogg) is a softly spoken thirtysomething flunking a sales job; by night, he is what Judd Apatow's Funny People euphemistically called a "high-energy" amateur standup, raising the volume to compensate for flat material. Off-stage, Ed dithers between his French bedmate Elisa (Elisa Lasowski) and Nathan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the charming artist who just wants him to commit. It's small and scratchy, necessarily circumscribed – like Jamie Thraves' not dissimilar The Low Down – by its protagonist's indecision, but a brace of electric, sharply observed encounters on nightbuses contribute to an air of something lived through: Shkolnik knows what it is to be shrugging along in the city with not enough money in your pocket,...
This low-key character study from debutant Tom Shkolnik proves quietly impressive in its ruminations on latter-day London identity. In office hours, Ed (Edward Hogg) is a softly spoken thirtysomething flunking a sales job; by night, he is what Judd Apatow's Funny People euphemistically called a "high-energy" amateur standup, raising the volume to compensate for flat material. Off-stage, Ed dithers between his French bedmate Elisa (Elisa Lasowski) and Nathan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the charming artist who just wants him to commit. It's small and scratchy, necessarily circumscribed – like Jamie Thraves' not dissimilar The Low Down – by its protagonist's indecision, but a brace of electric, sharply observed encounters on nightbuses contribute to an air of something lived through: Shkolnik knows what it is to be shrugging along in the city with not enough money in your pocket,...
- 5/31/2013
- by Mike McCahill
- The Guardian - Film News
President Obama will be sworn in as the President of the United States for his second term on Jan. 21 and all of his favorite celeb supporters will come out for the big day. Read on to find out what’s going down!
President Obama is Hollywood’s favorite man! There are tons of A-listers coming to perform at his inaugural galas and you’ll never guess which of your favorite TV cast’s will be there.
Who Is Performing At Obama’s Inauguration Galas
Katy Perry, Smokey Robinson, Usher, Alicia Keys and Brad Paisley are some of the celebs who will sing at Obama’s inaugural galas on Jan. 21. On top of that, Marc Anthony, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and the cast of Glee.
Where Are The Galas Being Held & Who Will Perform At Obama’s Signing Ceremony?
The concert and two official inaugural balls will be held at the Washington Convention Center.
President Obama is Hollywood’s favorite man! There are tons of A-listers coming to perform at his inaugural galas and you’ll never guess which of your favorite TV cast’s will be there.
Who Is Performing At Obama’s Inauguration Galas
Katy Perry, Smokey Robinson, Usher, Alicia Keys and Brad Paisley are some of the celebs who will sing at Obama’s inaugural galas on Jan. 21. On top of that, Marc Anthony, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and the cast of Glee.
Where Are The Galas Being Held & Who Will Perform At Obama’s Signing Ceremony?
The concert and two official inaugural balls will be held at the Washington Convention Center.
- 1/11/2013
- by Chloe Melas
- HollywoodLife
There must be a children's joke that goes: Q. "How do you approach a film called Treacle?" A. "Syruptitiously." Anyway this low-budget British movie centres on the brief odd-couple relationship between a middle-class dropout who leaves his wife and young child in a Birmingham suburb and lights out to live rough in south London, where he takes up with a manic, motor-mouthed, mentally disturbed Irish tramp. The latter lives with an abusive, promiscuous, exploitative black girl and scrapes a living by, among other things, attempting to hire out his cat Treacle to kill mice in greasy-spoon cafes. The film has its moments and Aidan Gillen is impressive as the Hibernian hanger-on from hell, but it's a slight affair. Back in 2000, Gillen starred in Thraves's highly promising The Low Down, a portrait of the drifting, directionless lives of a group of young people, once art school contemporaries, in north London. It...
- 7/18/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Jamie Thraves and Aidan Gillen return to the big screen, while the Life of Brian controversy is explored by BBC4 and Martin Scorsese shows his favourites movies at Port Eliot
Thraves thrives
After a decade out of British cinemas, director Jamie Thraves's Treacle Jr (see Philip French's review this week) sees the return of a film-maker much admired for his debut, The Low Down, in 2000. I'm pleased to see that the Irish actor Aidan Gillen has stuck by Thraves, even now that his star has risen after roles in The Wire and Game of Thrones. The pair are now working on another collaboration, a music film, which will combine Gillen's rock-star fantasies with Thraves's skills honed making videos for Radiohead, Coldplay and Dizzee Rascal. Thraves remortgaged his house to make Treacle Jr and shot it for £30,000, composing and playing much of the soundtrack himself. The film is part of...
Thraves thrives
After a decade out of British cinemas, director Jamie Thraves's Treacle Jr (see Philip French's review this week) sees the return of a film-maker much admired for his debut, The Low Down, in 2000. I'm pleased to see that the Irish actor Aidan Gillen has stuck by Thraves, even now that his star has risen after roles in The Wire and Game of Thrones. The pair are now working on another collaboration, a music film, which will combine Gillen's rock-star fantasies with Thraves's skills honed making videos for Radiohead, Coldplay and Dizzee Rascal. Thraves remortgaged his house to make Treacle Jr and shot it for £30,000, composing and playing much of the soundtrack himself. The film is part of...
- 7/18/2011
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
A low-key portrait of a south-east London odd-job man with a big performance by Aidan Gillen, and the return of promising film-maker Jamie Thraves
Jamie Thraves is a British film-maker whose 2000 debut, The Low Down, was a very likable movie and he has been too long absent from the screen. Treacle Jr is a low-key, low-budget portrait of the dispossessed in south-east London, with a teaspoon of Loach, a couple of teaspoons of Beckett and a very big, studied performance from Aidan Gillen to which, I must admit, I took a little time to acclimatise. Gillen plays Aidan, a sweet-natured Irish guy who wanders the streets doing odd jobs door-to-door and cheerfully talking very loudly, very rapidly, and sometimes unintelligibly to total strangers – he appears to have borderline learning difficulties. With a sublime indifference to how unwanted his attentions are, Aidan befriends Tom (Tom Fisher), a man who, in the midst of a personal crisis,...
Jamie Thraves is a British film-maker whose 2000 debut, The Low Down, was a very likable movie and he has been too long absent from the screen. Treacle Jr is a low-key, low-budget portrait of the dispossessed in south-east London, with a teaspoon of Loach, a couple of teaspoons of Beckett and a very big, studied performance from Aidan Gillen to which, I must admit, I took a little time to acclimatise. Gillen plays Aidan, a sweet-natured Irish guy who wanders the streets doing odd jobs door-to-door and cheerfully talking very loudly, very rapidly, and sometimes unintelligibly to total strangers – he appears to have borderline learning difficulties. With a sublime indifference to how unwanted his attentions are, Aidan befriends Tom (Tom Fisher), a man who, in the midst of a personal crisis,...
- 7/14/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
In this week's podcast, Jason Solomons meets director Jamie Thraves to talk about his new film, Treacle Jr, starring The Wire's Aiden Gillen. Thraves discusses his long wait to return to cinema following his acclaimed 2001 debut, The Low Down, also starring Gillen.
Xan Brooks chats to Us film-maker Liz Garbus about her HBO documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World, telling the story of the late chess genius who was vilified in his homeland.
Finally, Xan and Jason review some of this week's other releases, including the final Harry Potter film, a Turkish delight named Bal (Honey) and the Spanish prison drama Cell 211.
Subscribe for free via our iTunes feed. (Here's the non-iTunes URL feed). Follow us on Twitter to receive updates on all guests and reviews. Film Weekly is also on Facebook, where you can join our Film Weekly Fans group. And you can listen back through our archive here.
Xan Brooks chats to Us film-maker Liz Garbus about her HBO documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World, telling the story of the late chess genius who was vilified in his homeland.
Finally, Xan and Jason review some of this week's other releases, including the final Harry Potter film, a Turkish delight named Bal (Honey) and the Spanish prison drama Cell 211.
Subscribe for free via our iTunes feed. (Here's the non-iTunes URL feed). Follow us on Twitter to receive updates on all guests and reviews. Film Weekly is also on Facebook, where you can join our Film Weekly Fans group. And you can listen back through our archive here.
- 7/14/2011
- by Xan Brooks, Jason Solomons, Jason Phipps
- The Guardian - Film News
After disappearing off the map for a decade, director Jamie Thraves is making his return to British cinema. So why the time out?
In the living room of his London home, film-maker Jamie Thraves is attempting to return to its cage a china-blue budgerigar named Sparky, which has taken up residence on the frame of a mirror. Three-year-old Harvey watches nonchalantly from the sofa as his father coaxes Sparky on to a quivering forefinger and moves gingerly across the room. But the bird takes flight when he gets within pecking distance of the cage; this happens three or four times before Thraves gives up and hands bird-rescuing duties to his wife. It is, it has to be said, a pretty unbeatable metaphor for the 42-year-old's directorial career, which has been dogged by false starts, precariousness and disappointment.
Eleven years ago, Thraves was at the forefront of a modest revolution in British cinema,...
In the living room of his London home, film-maker Jamie Thraves is attempting to return to its cage a china-blue budgerigar named Sparky, which has taken up residence on the frame of a mirror. Three-year-old Harvey watches nonchalantly from the sofa as his father coaxes Sparky on to a quivering forefinger and moves gingerly across the room. But the bird takes flight when he gets within pecking distance of the cage; this happens three or four times before Thraves gives up and hands bird-rescuing duties to his wife. It is, it has to be said, a pretty unbeatable metaphor for the 42-year-old's directorial career, which has been dogged by false starts, precariousness and disappointment.
Eleven years ago, Thraves was at the forefront of a modest revolution in British cinema,...
- 6/30/2011
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Monday is here already! Ease into your week with these links:
School’s over! Fun ways to celebrate the last day of classes — Momformation.com When do you soothe a crying baby? And when do you walk away? — Shine.Yahoo.com The low down on the best way to store children’s books — lilSugar.com A child’s fever: To treat or not to treat? — Good Morning America Mom loses her job after kids get sick during Glee concert — TheStir.com...
School’s over! Fun ways to celebrate the last day of classes — Momformation.com When do you soothe a crying baby? And when do you walk away? — Shine.Yahoo.com The low down on the best way to store children’s books — lilSugar.com A child’s fever: To treat or not to treat? — Good Morning America Mom loses her job after kids get sick during Glee concert — TheStir.com...
- 6/13/2011
- by Anya
- People - CelebrityBabies
With British cop thriller Blitz out in cinemas today, we caught up with Aidan Gillen to talk about the film, and fighting Jason Statham...
An actor who’s often specialised in bringing flawed, unusual characters to the screen, including mayor Thomas Carcetti in The Wire and Stuart in Queer As Folk, Aidan Gillen may have found his most strange and unsettling role yet in the form of Blitz’s crazed murderer, Barry Weiss. A swaggering outsider with an affection for bright green shades and outlandish violence, Weiss is quite possibly the most memorable antagonist to appear on the big screen this year.
With Blitz out in UK cinemas today, we just had to find out how Gillen prepared for the role, what it was like to fight Jason Statham, and where he got that extraordinary pair of shades.
Did you base the character on anyone in particular? Weiss reminded me of Sid Vicious.
An actor who’s often specialised in bringing flawed, unusual characters to the screen, including mayor Thomas Carcetti in The Wire and Stuart in Queer As Folk, Aidan Gillen may have found his most strange and unsettling role yet in the form of Blitz’s crazed murderer, Barry Weiss. A swaggering outsider with an affection for bright green shades and outlandish violence, Weiss is quite possibly the most memorable antagonist to appear on the big screen this year.
With Blitz out in UK cinemas today, we just had to find out how Gillen prepared for the role, what it was like to fight Jason Statham, and where he got that extraordinary pair of shades.
Did you base the character on anyone in particular? Weiss reminded me of Sid Vicious.
- 5/19/2011
- Den of Geek
Alien-invasion movie offers 'top-notch visuals to rival those of any big-studio film,' one critic chimes.
By Eric Ditzian
A scene from "Skyline"
Photo: Rogue
An alien-invasion flick likely will top the box office this weekend ... but, no, it's not called "Skyline." Rather, it seems that "Megamind," the animated tale of a big-brained baddie with a secretly soft heart, is going to reign supreme for the second week in a row.
"Skyline," meanwhile, will compete for ticket buyers' bucks with Denzel Washington's runaway-train action movie, "Unstoppable," which also opens this weekend. "Skyline" leapt out of Comic-Con with a surprising buzz — a film no one had really heard about that, after the convention, was firmly on the fanboy radar. Universal has since taken a gamble and declined to screen the movie for the media, choosing to let the fans themselves decide if the flick is a worthy addition to the alien-invasion genre.
By Eric Ditzian
A scene from "Skyline"
Photo: Rogue
An alien-invasion flick likely will top the box office this weekend ... but, no, it's not called "Skyline." Rather, it seems that "Megamind," the animated tale of a big-brained baddie with a secretly soft heart, is going to reign supreme for the second week in a row.
"Skyline," meanwhile, will compete for ticket buyers' bucks with Denzel Washington's runaway-train action movie, "Unstoppable," which also opens this weekend. "Skyline" leapt out of Comic-Con with a surprising buzz — a film no one had really heard about that, after the convention, was firmly on the fanboy radar. Universal has since taken a gamble and declined to screen the movie for the media, choosing to let the fans themselves decide if the flick is a worthy addition to the alien-invasion genre.
- 11/12/2010
- MTV Music News
Alien-invasion movie offers 'top-notch visuals to rival those of any big-studio film,' one critic chimes.
By Eric Ditzian
A scene from "Skyline"
Photo: Rogue
An alien-invasion flick likely will top the box office this weekend ... but, no, it's not called "Skyline." Rather, it seems that "Megamind," the animated tale of a big-brained baddie with a secretly soft heart, is going to reign supreme for the second week in a row.
"Skyline," meanwhile, will compete for ticket buyers' bucks with Denzel Washington's runaway-train action movie, "Unstoppable," which also opens this weekend. "Skyline" leapt out of Comic-Con with a surprising buzz — a film no one had really heard about that, after the convention, was firmly on the fanboy radar. Universal has since taken a gamble and declined to screen the movie for the media, choosing to let the fans themselves decide if the flick is a worthy addition to the alien-invasion genre.
By Eric Ditzian
A scene from "Skyline"
Photo: Rogue
An alien-invasion flick likely will top the box office this weekend ... but, no, it's not called "Skyline." Rather, it seems that "Megamind," the animated tale of a big-brained baddie with a secretly soft heart, is going to reign supreme for the second week in a row.
"Skyline," meanwhile, will compete for ticket buyers' bucks with Denzel Washington's runaway-train action movie, "Unstoppable," which also opens this weekend. "Skyline" leapt out of Comic-Con with a surprising buzz — a film no one had really heard about that, after the convention, was firmly on the fanboy radar. Universal has since taken a gamble and declined to screen the movie for the media, choosing to let the fans themselves decide if the flick is a worthy addition to the alien-invasion genre.
- 11/12/2010
- MTV Movie News
Treacle Jr and Made In Dagenham shared the Best Film award at the 21st Dinard Film Festival. Both pictures took home a Hitchcock d’Or on Saturday night, at the French festival designed to celebrate British film. Dagenham - or We Want Sex, as it is titled in France - also won the Best Screenplay and audience awards, while Mr Nice director/ Director of Photography Bernard Rose picked up the Hitchcock Blanc for Best Cinematography.Stuart Hazeldine’s thriller Exam won the exhibitors' award, the Hitchcock Bronze. Treacle Jr writer/director Jamie Thraves (The Low Down) re-mortaged his house in order to finance his third feature, a funny and moving London-set drama. The jury, which included The Kid director Nick Moran and a game Sienna Miller, joined in a chorus line dance to Abba’s Thank You For The Music, as the ceremony came to a rather surreal conclusion in the French costal town.
- 10/8/2010
- EmpireOnline
The remake of John Carpenter’s 1981 cult classic "Escape from New York" has found itself suddenly moving forward at Warner Bros. Pictures reports Vulture. The reason? A new script by Allan Loeb ("21," "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"). Loeb's script apparently nails the humor (minus the camp) of anti-hero Snake Plissken while also changing the character's mission from rescuing the U.S. President to rescuing a female senator...
Another change is New York City itself. Unlike the crumbling dystopian ruins of the original which were all that was left after a war, the setup here is that Manhattan has remained largely intact but was evacuated and turned into the walled off penal colony after a nuclear dirty bomb was detonated on the city's outskirts.
The benefit here is economic as a ruined city is expensive to produce cinematically. This solution, by previous scribe David Kajganich, should deliver a more recognisable but...
Another change is New York City itself. Unlike the crumbling dystopian ruins of the original which were all that was left after a war, the setup here is that Manhattan has remained largely intact but was evacuated and turned into the walled off penal colony after a nuclear dirty bomb was detonated on the city's outskirts.
The benefit here is economic as a ruined city is expensive to produce cinematically. This solution, by previous scribe David Kajganich, should deliver a more recognisable but...
- 2/11/2010
- by admin
- Horrorbid
I've never had the misfortune of being trapped in an elevator but I'm quite certain it sucks. I'm postive being trapped in an elevator for 20 hours would suck even more so. Being trapped in an elevator for 20 hours with two other people, one of whom turns out to be a serial killer, suffice to say that's not a scenario you want to find yourself in. That's the scenario Amber Tamblyn finds herself in in Blackout, coming to DVD this January.
"You're trapped in the dark elevator of a deserted building with two strangers on a hot August afternoon, with a dire need to be somewhere else. Things couldn't get any worse ... unless one of you is a psychopathic serial killer. Amber Tamblyn (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, TV's "Joan of Arcadia") and Aidan Gillen (The Low Down, TV's "The Wire") star in this riveting thriller about what happens when escalating hostility,...
"You're trapped in the dark elevator of a deserted building with two strangers on a hot August afternoon, with a dire need to be somewhere else. Things couldn't get any worse ... unless one of you is a psychopathic serial killer. Amber Tamblyn (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, TV's "Joan of Arcadia") and Aidan Gillen (The Low Down, TV's "The Wire") star in this riveting thriller about what happens when escalating hostility,...
- 10/17/2008
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
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