When you think of tall buildings, I immediately thought of Die Hard. But these days Die Hard is my go to for most things. I just really love that movie. My second thought was Dredd. But as this is my rainy day/sick day film (this as and Rear Window) and I wanted to go for the theme within a theme this week. I went for a simple theme, keeping it British. All my picks are British made movies.
High-Rise
A big hit in recent years, Brit grit director Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump's adaptation of J.G. Ballard's cult novel High-Rise split audiences in two. One side hated it (I blame poor advertising and the fact people were just seeing it because Tom Hiddleston was it in) and on the other side, it was adored. I love this film. It may be a grim and long winded way of saying society is a mess but it has moments or pure genius. And as someone who sees themselves as Nick Carraway, I see myself in Lang too. The constant observer.
Attack the Block
Joe Cornish's Attack the Block was a big deal. Not only was it the writer's directorial debut but it was also John Boyega's (of Star Wars fame) big break. Set in a council estate tower block filmed in and around various estates in East London, a group of friends and nurse they mug earlier in the evening, have to defend their home from aliens. Its so good to see a fresher version of the 'alien invasion' scenario with a group of 'hoodies' and how they'd resolve things. Plus its hilarious. Cornish said that the story was inspired after he was mugged and added the alien element. When he was writing the story and during filming he asked the young cast how they would actually talk and what weapons they would use if there was an actual invasion.
Man on Wire
This was one of the first times I really became interested in documentaries. I was brought up on fiction films of all genres (except horror, my parents hate horror too) but documentaries became an important part of my film education later on while at college. I had read about the film and watched the trailers a few times intrigued by this true tale. My mum (usually against buying DVDs) agreed to getting if for me when we were in the supermarket together. We watched it together as soon as we were home and we were both hooked on the story. It was doc that was presented like a heist film, keeping in with the excitement and thrill with the re-enactments and interviews. The story of Philippe Petit's terrifying 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Centre is both amazing but with a air of sadness. Robert Zemeckis' The Walk that came out 2015 was no where near as exciting and it seemed odd to follow such a great documentary.
Don't forget to check out where it all started over at
