Bad is the new good

I saw a trailer for this film a couple of months back and at the time I thought it would be the best psychedelic roller-coaster since Fear and Loathing. Oh how wrong I was. This film stunk like a humid Pacific island plastered in cat food. I can also say that it was a very educating experience and I'm thoroughly glad I saw it...

You know when you see a trailer for a movie and you think "yeah that looks great" and you usually don't really know what the film's about in its entirety but nevertheless some clever dude as done a great job of pasting together all the cool bits to create an in your face incomprehensible taster. Now try and imagine that trailer being 90 minutes long.

The formula is great when you think about it, a modern take on Alice in Wonderland, set in London with loads of English actors giving a gritty angle to the classic characters. Plus the entire movie looks wonderful. Full of arty angles and interesting shots complete with some lovely colour grading. Unfortunately the entire film makes so many basic errors all of the above is irrelevant. Everything happens far too quickly with so many events happening within minutes of each other. Therefore there is no tension, no suspense, no release of tension. One just goes from one incomprehensible run in with a bizarre character to another. Secondly (and this is exacerbated by the rushed nature) one doesn't really know what's going on! The script is so all over the place and in places confusingly poetic that the story you're meant to be following goes way over your head! Finally the actors in it are all pretty dire-one of them being Danny Dyer-apart from a little help from Paul Kaye and Matt King, whom we see very little of.

And so the whole thing just felt like a long trailer very pretty but I had no idea what happened. Yet thanks to this film I've been shown exactly how not to make a film. In my short time learning this craft I have learnt one thing in particular and that's the fact that making films is more about not messing things up rather than showing off. It's a bit like grammar; you only notice it when it's done badly.

I recommend any budding filmmaker see as many rubbish films as they possibly can!