December 2011 – Jonathan Melville

Young James Herriot week on ReelScotland

As well as covering a large amount Scottish films on ReelScotland, I also try to feature as much new television as I can.

Following articles on BBC Scotland’s The Field of Blood and Burnistoun, I was on the set of All Creatures Great and Small prequel, Young James Herriot, in July.

Starring Iain De Caestecker, Amy Manson and Ben Lloyd-Hughes, the series is set in the 1930s and follows a young James Herriot as he becomes the accomplished vet we know from the books and original TV series.

I’ve decided to run interviews with the three leads and their co-star, Tony Curran, from Tuesday until Friday, with episode one showing on BBC One on Sunday evening.

I’m also dropping in some audio clips from the interviews alongside the text, making the interviews more interesting for fans. I’ll add links to the interviews on here during the week and also embed the audio below:

‘It’s about James Herriot becoming the character everyone knows’: Iain De Caestecker on Young James Herriot

[gigya src=”http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf” flashvars=”mp3=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F586020-iain-de-caestecker-on-filming-multiple-takes-in-young-james-herriot.mp3%3Fsource%3Dwordpress&mp3Author=reelscotland&mp3LinkURL=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F586020-iain-de-caestecker-on-filming-multiple-takes-in-young-james-herriot&mp3Time=11.25pm+12+Dec+2011&mp3Title=Iain+De+Caestecker+on+filming+multiple+takes+in+Young+James+Herriot” width=”400″ height=”160″ allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”transparent”]

‘She just breezes through life’: Amy Manson on Young James Herriot

[gigya src=”http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf” flashvars=”mp3=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F587305-amy-manson-on-working-in-scotland-in-young-james-herriot.mp3%3Fsource%3Dwordpress&mp3Author=reelscotland&mp3LinkURL=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F587305-amy-manson-on-working-in-scotland-in-young-james-herriot&mp3Time=09.33pm+13+Dec+2011&mp3Title=Amy+Manson+on+working+in+Scotland+in+Young+James+Herriot” width=”400″ height=”160″ allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”transparent”]

[gigya src=”http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf” flashvars=”mp3=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F587296-amy-manson-on-the-period-setting-of-young-james-herriot.mp3%3Fsource%3Dwordpress&mp3Author=reelscotland&mp3LinkURL=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F587296-amy-manson-on-the-period-setting-of-young-james-herriot&mp3Time=09.29pm+13+Dec+2011&mp3Title=Amy+Manson+on+the+period+setting+of+Young+James+Herriot” width=”400″ height=”160″ allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”transparent”]

The future of film criticism is in the past

Being a classic film fan can be a lonely experience, one of those people who regularly scans the TV listings for 1am repeats of Clarence Brown films or documentaries about RKO.

This past year has found me immersed in cinema history, through my visit to the TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF), my work running the Park Circus blog and my weekly Edinburgh Evening News column.

A few weeks ago I wrote in the paper about the arrival of Scorsese’s Hugo and new silent film, The Artist, both of which celebrate the early days of film, while on Thursday I noted the arrival of Edinburgh’s IMAX screen and the need to keep an eye on some of the smaller films in the city.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8K9AZcSQJE]

As I’ve discovered through working with Park Circus, the world is increasingly looking to the past for its entertainment, something I’m more than happy to be a part of.

I’ll be visiting the IMAX for Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol in a few weeks, and appreciate the need to promote quality new cinema via sites like my own www.reelscotland.com, but I also think it’s my responsibility to tell readers about our rich cinematic heritage, as I did back in September for the Evening News.

It’s also the reason I recently started another blog in the shape of Holyrood or Bust. With the huge volume of DVDs and Blu-rays currently being released, not to mention cinema re-releases and films such as The Artist, it’s a golden period for those wanting to write about classic film.

My most recent post was requested by a friend in New York, Will McKinley, who is a viewer and fan of the US TCM channel. Though I’m unable to watch the channel, I did become a convert to TCM during the TCMFF and used their recent Buster Keaton season to launch the site in October. This time, Will asked if I could write a post to celebrate the return of TCM host, Robert Osborne, to the screen after a short absence.

I obliged by using an excerpt from an interview I carried out with Osborne in LA earlier in the year:

[gigya src=”http://boos.audioboo.fm/swf/fullsize_player.swf” flashvars=”mp3=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F567305-robert-osborne-interview-tcm-classic-film-festival-2011.mp3%3Fsource%3Dwordpress&mp3Author=jonathanmelville&mp3LinkURL=http%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F567305-robert-osborne-interview-tcm-classic-film-festival-2011&mp3Time=11.15pm+29+Nov+2011&mp3Title=Robert+Osborne+interview%2C+TCM+Classic+Film+Festival+2011″ width=”400″ height=”160″ allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”transparent”]

I’m now gearing up for a 2012 filled with even more classic films, including another trip to Bristol’s Slapstick Festival, the second Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema here in Scotland (see my video interview below), a return to Los Angeles and a few other projects that are in the early stages.

Through my work I’ve discovered a vibrant community of classic film fans it’s been a privilege to engage with them on various websites, via Twitter and, most importantly, in cinemas around the world.

Here’s to another classic year of film coverage in 2012.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W9MIKcPObSI]