Forgetting Sarah Marshall opens in the West End

I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall tonight at the Vue West End. I'd really been looking forward to it, as I watched the entire cast in various sitcoms and films as a 'tween' (Paul Rudd in Clueless, Mila Kunis in That 70s Show, Jason Segel in Undeclared...). Producer Judd Apatow's other romcom, Knocked Up, is hilarious and, best of all, Russell Brand makes his US debut in this film, as Sarah Marshall's rock star love interest. I found Brand intensely annoying until I read his autobiography, My Booky Wook, at Christmas and fell in love with him a bit. He is also an incredibly potent fashion trend catalyst for young men in this city, despite being slated for his Bowie-esque sense of style by GQ recently. Anyway, none of this affects my totally unbiased endorsement of this film as pretty damn good.


Segel wrote Forgetting Sarah Marshall loosely based on his own experience of a bad break-up. He's a brave man to want to re-live that, as the protagonist of the film...and even braver to do full-frontal nudity with a less than toned bod. His willingness to share his imperfections, from his disastrous trysts to his love of puppets (funnier than it sounds), makes for scenes as endearing as they are hilarious. Apatow's biggest audience may be guffawing teenage boys, but his films lack the sex-obsessed inanity of productions like the American Pie trilogy. They go for the cheap laugh occasionally, but there is some genuinely inspired improvisation and the female characters are actually multi-dimensional. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is punchier than a chickflick and sweeter than a Farrelly brothers-style gross out film. It may be the perfect date film.


There's some really funny 'I hate Sarah Marshall' blog pages set up to promote the film, with Segel's character, Peter, as 'blogger'. Its a really cool, thoughtful, way to get people interested.

www.forgettingsarahmarshall.com

I'm No Angel

This May marks the one year anniversary of her tragic death, but the influence of Isabella Blow, the legendary fashion editor and muse for Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy, continues undiminished. In June, the Blow de la Barra gallery near Brick Lane, East London opens an exhibition of work by artists who drew inspiration from her short, vibrant life. The exhibition takes the title "I’m no Angel” from one of the films of Mae West, surely a fantasy choice for the starring role in an Isabella biopic. Many of the contributors are Blow’s close friends from the fashion and art worlds, including Tracey Emin, Mario Testino and designers Philip Treacy, Giles Deacon and Alexander McQueen. Isabella co-founded the gallery with her husband, Detmar, and curator Pablo Leon de la Barra in 2004, with the aim of supporting up-and-coming international artists, one of her great passions.

See a clip of ‘I’m no Angel’, the 1933 film, dreadfully politically incorrect through 2008 eyes, of course, but West is fabulous. Isabella was definitely a kindred spirit- honest, opinionated and never knowingly underdressed.

‘I’m no Angel’ runs from June 24th to August 1st, 2008
http://www.blowdelabarra.com/

Photo courtesy of Blow de la Barra PR