The clock is ticking towards The Last Minute, but no one knows it. No one except Billy Byrne - young, cool and talented, he's the Next Big Thing. At least that's what the London glitterazzi are saying, on the streets, in the clubs, in the Business. But the glitterazzi turn out to be wrong and Billy Byrne is all over in a split second. His world detonates. His self-esteem splinters. Suddenly he's on a rollercoaster ride into the London underworld - a dangerous land of murderers, thieves and talent agents. (Copied from IMDB page)
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Truly Dreadful Film
This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
A really weird, unknown and rare film that attacks you out of no where and strikes you to the bottom of the unpredictable downer pit.Long story short, it is about a guy who is the new and hip guy, until he isnt and falls down to obscurity, including becoming a Junky. As you might already have written a couple of times about this film, there isnt much to read about it out there, it seems to be a semi autobiographical piece of work about its director Stephen Norrington (Blade, Death Machine, League of....), which even though i hope he didnt became an addict, who left directing & directing right after "League of... ", due to having again being traumatised and shattered by the studio system (you can look it up for yourself what went down). The film could and should be seen as a metaphorical dream turned nightmare turned re-awakening. Its themes of Fame, celebrety cult, creativity, ego centrecism, exploitation and much more couldn't be more relevant today, in the age of social media reality tv and talent shows where most of the western and eastern world seems to seek fame and attention like heroin addicts to an absurd extreme. We live in an age of people becoming famous for the sake of it without having any talents whatsoever and others for having video channels with millions of followers without doing anything more than reacting to other videos infront of the camera, people watching other people play video games and so on. The film indirectly predicts that obsession for attention and shows its aftermath that will come someday to whomever seeks that attention for whatever. What surprised me about this film was its sheer nihilistic madness and chaotic nature that until the very end doesnt quite seem to match up, by the end you'll understand and as only a few movies do this flick gets better the more you watch it.Be warned this film ain't for the faint heart and especially is not for the traditional moviegoer, at times it reminded me of the spontaneous chaotic nature of Godard' s Breathless (make no mistake it is not near as good as Breathless). This film surely deserves more attention and a cult following, not many people have seen or do even know about that film, so i say spread the word for this bizzare and unique experiment called film
Billy Byrne (Max Beesley, who bears a passing resemblance to Mark Wahlberg) is the proverbial new kid on the block. Thanks to the game of hype he's IT for the top being. However when his first work bombs horridly both critically as well as commercially, he has to figure a way to get back on top even as he sinks lower and lower into the metaphysical goo. Stephen directed 2 movies before this one and wrote one of those. A bit early for a semi (very) self-autobiographical introspective work one would think.It strikes me that perhaps he thought of him brilliant when he was writing this. A bit over inflated ego perhaps. He seeks to shock the audience by subjecting us to a barrage of images and keeping the film moving at a lightning quick pace (aside from a few slow spots) It might have been enough to get by 20 years ago, but to today's much more jaded viewers it doesn't resonate nearly as much. Not to say the film is a total loss as Beesley provides a pretty good, if not especially engaging, performance and I was rarely bored with it. It's just not that memorable. For a film that argues you shouldn't waste even a second of life, why would one choose to kiss 120 minutes away on this? My Grade: C-DVD Extras: Director's commentary; Max Beesley commentary; Producing of TLM, Style of TLM, Character Tree video; Cast and Crew Bios; Crafting Prosthesis; SN Connection; What Billy does; 3 music videos that did nothing for me; 4 faux TV show snippets; Production Notes; a game to determine how many weeks you have left until your 90th birthday and you get short clips of interviews or behind the scene footage (I had to F'n clue how to work this); Theatrical Trailer; Trailers for "Sex and Lucia", "The Believer", and "Scratch" (Honestly there may be a bit more but the extras menu is akin to the one found on the bonus disc of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" collection in as far as how you have to navigate through it)
The Last Minute is one of those truly rare motion pictures that deserves far wider recognition than it will ever get. How unfortunate. I'd never heard of the thing until recently stumbling across quite by accident. A virtual eye popping, roller coaster of a flick, it starts with a bang and never lets its hooks out of you. Visually, The Last Minute is as impressive a looking picture as I've ever seen. The DVD extras are (mostly) exceptional adding to the whole experience as few extras features ever do. As darkly hilarious as it is, this "Minute" also packs quite an emotional punch. Kudo's to Mr. Norrington. One caveat: Director Norrington wisely employs a terrific device by which we never know what our protagonist does to earn then lose his fame (director and star are on record as being at odds as to what Billy actually does). Were only that same thing had been employed on one scene. When Billy is told he doesn't want to know what's behind a certain, we shouldn't find that out either. Personally, I laughed (in horror, but laughed) at this scene but I know others who were put off of the movie altogether because of these few seconds.Every other aspect of the truly most bizarre club "Prosthetic" is genius (as, actually is the moment in question, just too off-putting for most people). It is in this long scene at "Prosthetic" where perhaps the films most brilliant moment occurs which is, of course, Percy "Sledge" breaking into the Sinatra classic "I've got you under my skin" while wreaking a gleeful malevolent stream of violence that is about as close to movie magic as we've ever seen. Norrington has a cast that, quite simply, could not have been improved upon with Max Beesley giving a stand out performance as Billy to watch the youthful energy of his clubby dance moves and the enthusiasm with which he embraces his burgeoning fame slip into confused despair, hopelessness and attempt at self redemption. Beesley has us routing for him even at his worst, for I think most of us can identify with Max's plight. As the aforementioned Percy "Sledge" Jason Isaacs is nothing short of terrifying, executing his violence with a Fred Astaire like grace and precision which is utterly disarming. The Oliver Twist twist of the underground urchins with their modern day, more violent, Fagin (who doles out drug treats to the kiddies) is chillingly beautiful. I also found the extended mad scene similar resonating strongly with Shakespeare's Lear Max's meltdown/unhinging being so closely tied with what is happening in nature. Brilliant. If "Minute" had been released theatrically stateside, I can't imagine it wouldn't do huge box office. There are audiences literally screaming for this type of originality. Hopefully, it's not too late to try. The seconds are ticking . . .
The atypical gritty Guy Ritchie British school of modern film class has reared a muddled mess of a movie. With a grandiose, meaning of life premise, the somewhat shallow and undefined plot leaves little room for depth of any real substance. Between the drawn-out stylistic vignettes and the over-abundance of effects, the film falls flat on it's fashionable face. A lower rating would have been in order had it not been for some humorous and entertaining moments, where levity and brevity are welcome friends and make the almost unbearable bearable. Overall, it's a mildly entertaining bit of mindless madness with a side order of "seize the day." Not worth a trip to the theater, but might do in a pinch at your local video store.