I'm not sure Nick Hornby's story, adapted by Jack Thorne, is that good, really - none of the four seem to have a particularly good reason for committing suicide, for one thing. They are Pearce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots and Aaron Paul. Also involved: Sam Neill, Rosamund Pyke, Tuppence Middleton and Josef Altin playing the man with cerebral palsy.
Nicely photographed by Ben Davis. Edited by Barney Pilling and Chris Gill. Music by Dario Marienelli. production design Chris Oddy.
It was originally called I Duo Magnifici Straccioni / Two Magnificent Tramps, a terrible title. Story made up by Luciano Vincenzoni and / or Leone, depending on which version you read. Though comedy writers Age Incrocci and Furio Scarpelli are credited, they contributed nothing. Sergio Donati was the ghost writer who contributed heavily in the post-production stage but received no credit.
"There's your old pal Angel Eyes." What 'old pal'? They haven't seen him before.
I'm not sure the restored scenes add anything much (it's now 172 minutes), though do explain who those people are who accompany Tuco to the hotel.
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| A de Chirico moment |
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| More great framing |
As to the great scene between Tuco and his brother, the priest, played by Luigi Pistilli. it's like nothing that has gone before it in the previous spaghetti westerns, a rare moment of human and family conflict, beautifully articulated. (I was thinking this is the scene in which the Italian just counts from one to ten, but that's the scene near the end with the one armed man Al Mulock and the bath. I'm still tempted to hear the film in Italian.)
With Aldo Giuffre, Rada Rassimov, Enzo Petito (storekeeper), Mario Braga.
Awful episode with rapist (James Murray) who claims he's ex-military; is never found out.
Awful moral dilemma when man (Robert Pugh) goes for vasectomy only to find out he could never have children... though he has two sons. Sensitively written by Peter Bowker.
Student (Katie Blake) does work experience; ends up ruining other lives.
And someone discovers her friend (Sophie Okonedo) has stolen a baby eight years before - what does she do?
Marshall Lancaster is seduced by Jo Joyner, who's in league with his adopted brother Lee Ingleby. Written by Paul Abbott.
And Mack seems to have had enough, and quits.
The way these stories are often unresolved is a feature of the series, and - we guess - like life.
Very entertaining and extremely unbelievable. Written by Ken Kaufman & Howard Klausner.
Clint was 70, James Garner 72, Tommy Lee Jones a mere 54 and Donald Sutherland 65. With James Cromwell, Marcia Gay Harden, William Devane, Loren Dean, Courtney Vance, Barbara Babcock and way down the list, as young pilot #2, John Hamm. Toby Stephens is the young Clint, though it sounds like all the 'young' characters have been overdubbed by the older ones.
The opening music is indeed Clint's though the rest of the score is by Lennie Niehaus. Jack Green is on camera and Tom Stern is chief lighting technician. There's an army of people credited with sound and special effects, the latter courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic. Most of the space stuff is CGI with the actors' faces imposed.
I have two issues with John Lee Hancock's screenplay. The first is the moment where Kevin Costner gets all murderous with farmer who's whacked his grandson. It makes the character really creepy whereas before we've thought of him as basically a not bad person who's a good influence on sheltered Jehovah's Witness boy T.J. Lowther. The second is the ending, which just seems protracted and stupid. Otherwise very enjoyable.
Clint plays a Texas lawman after him, Laura Dern is a criminology student along for the ride. Their silver caravan thing reminded me very specifically of the one in Sullivan's Travels, and particularly the moment it crashes. (Eastwood was a Sturges fan when younger.)
The normal Malpaso team are on hand, Jack Green, Lennie Niehaus, Joel Cox, Henry Bumstead. It's set in 1963 Texas.
Costner had a tantrum on set when the actor playing a farmer kept missing his cue, and stormed off. So Clint used Costner's double and filmed him giving a wave from behind. When Costner objected Clint told him he'd shoot the whole film with the double if he had to and Costner fell into place. Clint directs the boy well.
I didn't think I'd seen it but had on 11 March 1995. "The pursuers seem redundant in this film (although they provide some nice stabs at local government) and the ending is needlessly downbeat; Eastwood's "I don't know nuthin'" seems to have come from another film. Still, the script is good and the relationship between Costner and the boy interesting and likeable. Framing suffers on small screen."
Paul Abbott's only writing a couple of these now. Certain things never get resolved - like Kev getting the distinct impression his neighbour is a paedophile who is also a youth worker, but finds there's nothing he can do about it. Ricky Tomlinson is the inside man on a hijacking (which nets him £100,000 - what was the freight - solid gold underwear??) and gets away with it, the lads get into a street fight in which a young man is stabbed.
Unusual fare for Chabrol, filmed in Montreal, in English (though Stephane Audran seems to be dubbed. She was still married to the director at this point.) He and Sydney Banks adapted an Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) novel, starring Donald Sutherland.
A young girl announces a murder; then she changes her story - her brother did it. The mother (Audran) is a lush, wouldn't notice what's going on. Good performances from Aude Landry, and Lisa Langlois as her cousin. With Donald Pleasance as a paedophile, David Hemmings an inappropriate bank manager, Laurent Malet.
Halfway through it turns into a flashback story as Sutherland reads the diary of the dead girl and we find out all about her relationship with her cousin. It's quite a story, a chilling story, somehow, e.g. the murder itself, scene where Sutherland interviews Pleasance's 13 year old girlfriend and she denies everything, moment the camera tracks back through seemingly normal house while dead girl's voiceover conveys her fears.
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| We know Sutherland has a daughter this age, but isn't he getting a little too close to the witness? |
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| Kissing cousins |
Has a most unusual soundtrack in which there's often off-screen noise coming from somewhere.
Our version was in 4x3, possibly it was open matte as nothing seems to be missing. The DVD is also, though IMDB lists it as 1.85:1. Photographed by Jean Rabier, who shot most Chabrols, as well as Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.
Everyone's in it - John Simm, Philip Glenister, Lesley Sharp (Scott and Bailey, Capital), Sarah Lancashire, Chris Ecclestone, Siobhan Finneran, Maxine Peake, Christine Tremarco (serially unfaithful), Jack Deam, Jason Merrells, Andrew Sheridan, Wil Johnson, Diane Parish... even Julian Rhind Tutt.
Abbott originally wrote them as separate film ideas, then needed to bring them together into a cohesive whole. The challenge of writing six episodes solo was a big one for him, but its success (and BAFTA) led the way to State of Play and Shamless, or Shameless, if you prefer.
Written by Ring Lardner Jr., loosely based on Richard Hooker's novel, and partly improvised; I'd forgotten how funny this is. It sometimes comes across like a silent slapstick comedy but is anarchic and particularly anti-authoritarian, finding targets for fun in adherence to strict military practices and religion, the 'last supper' of Painless being one such example. Altman's predilections for the zoom lens and overlapping dialogue are well in evidence. But amidst the gore of the surgery scenes you come away with the impression that these surgeons really know what they're doing. The camp loudspeaker announcements are frequently hilarious.
Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould make a wonderful couple heading a large cast, also comprising Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Roger Bowen, Robert Duvall, Rene Auberjonois (priest), David Arkin, Jo Ann Pflug, Gary Burghoff (Radar), Fred Williamson ('Spearchucker'), Michael Murphy, John Schuck and Bud Cort.
Photographed by Harold E Stine, well edited by Danford Greene and Altman. Paramount.
Altman reckoned he got away with it as 20th Century Fox was preoccupied by large scale problems on Tora, Tora, Tora and Patton. It was unexpectedly a huge box office hit.
In scope of course it is much bigger - the budget had risen from $6 million to $13 million, and shows in its recreations of New York in the early part of the twentieth century, and its journeys back to Sicily and onward to Cuba.
It's a film of two halves, cross cutting Vito's early life with that of the increasingly embittered Michael, and it's an irony that when both men take their vengeance against people who have betrayed them, the victims are all old men - a token victory only.
It is supposedly the better film because it has more to say - about the corruption through big business and politics - but I think it's the lesser of the two films. You don't really feel any emotion, or suspense, or joy - there's nothing to laugh about in this one. But it is marvellously photographed by Gordon Willis, and has an amazing golden look. Amazingly, he wasn't even Oscar nominated. But winners were Coppola for film, direction and screenplay (with Mario Puzo again) Dean Tavoularis for the production design, and Nino Rota for the music. Some of those artful dissolves from new to old also eluded the Academy - Barry Malkin - Richard Marks, Peter Zinner. Walter Murch was the sound designer.
Robert de Niro also won for best supporting actor. With Cazale, Keaton. Shire and Duvall are Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo (the old-school Pentangeli), G.D. Spradling (Senator), Bruno Kirby, Marianna Hill (High Plains Drifter), Morgana King (Mama Corleone), Dominic Chianese (Junior Soprano), Harry Dean Stanton, Danny Aiello and Roger Corman (one of the senators). Talking of the senate enquiry, I don't know if it was supposed to, but it seemed to me very much to invoke the feel of the HUAC hearings.
Q wasn't impressed that I made us watch the remastered edition which Channel 4 broadcast over her original, boxed set Valentine's Day gift (!), but you can see the difference:
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| Original |
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| Remastered |
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| Original |
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| Remastered |
And here's a reminder of how dark Willis dared to go (from the new edition):
Donald Sutherland died June 20 aged 88. I probably first saw (and loved) him in Kelly's Heroes. You felt that in whatever role he was in, he was always true in it. Here he's a confused father struggling to deal with his son's post-suicidal life. The dialogue is almost Pinterish in that nothing being talked about is relevant - it's what's not being talked about that is crucial.
Redford draws wonderful performances out of everybody - Sutherland, Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch and Elizabeth McGovern - and John Bailey paints them in that slightly autumnal, shadowy light of his.
Alvin Sargent adapted Judith Guests's novel in the 'drip feed' narrative style. It's moving, and very good. Won Oscars for Picture, Director and Screenplay, and for Hutton.
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Great lines like -
"We would have been all right if there hadn't been any mess"
- and -
"I'm crying because I don't know if I love you any more and I don't know what I'd do without that".
Edited by Jeff Kanew, his only film of note.
It was Billy's birthday. Though no one remembers Izzy Diamond anyway. Actually you have to give it to Samuel Taylor, who wrote the play. Then, it's as beautifully constructed as all their other gems. For example early on Carlucci says "You father always used to call me Carlo" which Armbruster never does until the very end.
Also you have to admire the way in which Armbruster falls for Miss Piggott but he never falls for Italy at all.
Ferdinando Scarfiotti is the art director responsible for recreating the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria. His credits include The Sheltering Sky, The Last Emperor, Daisy Miller, Death in Venice, Il Conformista and American Gigolo as 'visual consultant'.
Based on Al Ruddy's life as a producer and his experience of working on The Godfather. He is Miles Teller, Bob Evans is played by Matthew Goode, with a slightly blocked nose (I found this a little distracting), Coppola rather well by Dan Fogler again and mobster Joe Colombo by Giovanni Ribisi, also with a slightly distracting accent. Actually Burn Gorman has one as well, playing the head of Gulf & Western.
With Juno Temple as a highly useful assistant, Colin Hanks on good serious form, Jake Cannavale (son of Bobby and Jenny Lumet), Lou Ferrigno. And Patrick Gallo as Mario Puzo, Anthony Ippolito as Pacino, Nora Arnezedar as Ruddy's girlfriend, Meredith Garretson as Ali MacGraw, Joseph Russo as 'Crazy' Joe Gallo, Justin Chambers as Brando.
Temple plays her character well and she's a great one - chumming up to the boss of Gulf & Western, independently seeking help from Colombo, sorting out the script. Good stuff between Coppola and Puzo. There were so many problems associated with this film - Italian pressure, Sinatra really didn't want it made, a proposed sale of the studio, Evans and Ruddy being sacked - it's amazing it was made at all, never mind being the brilliant iconic film it became - which I guess is partly why this is so interesting.
A lavish ten parter for Paramount +. Tolkin wrote The Player. Though we almost thought that episode 9 was the last one - particularly the special screening for the mob, in which you can see just from their reactions which bit of the film we're at. Ruddy's decision to leave the GF and go his own way is almost anticlimactic. Nevertheless we thought is was one of the best streaming things of the year, and Juno Temple's Bettye McCartt a fabulous character.
Loved the scene in which Brando very simply becomes Don Corleone. Also where the actor playing Talia Shire's husband has hit her for real and Juno instructs Caan to beat the shit out of him - not true, but a great scene.
Directed by Adam Arkin, Dexter Fletcher, Colin Bucksey and Gwyneth Horder-Payton.
We'd been planning to watch just two episodes then celebrate Donald Sutherland with MASH, but we just had to watch the last four together.
Evans' career pretty much tanked after Chinatown; Ruddy did not much better, latterly though producing both Million Dollar Baby and the less successful Cry Macho for Clint Eastwood. And it is true that editor Aram Avakian was involved early on but not to sabotage Francis - in fact the opposite. They were friends (Aram had cut You're a Big Boy Now) and when Ruddy asked Avakian if he could replace Coppola as director he refused - see here.
An attempt to tell a true story using the actual locations wherever possible (the curved prison cells structure being one of the most interesting) gives the film a unique feeling and must have given Joe Macdonald some interesting lighting challenges. There's no music either.
James Stewart really does not at all believe cop killer Richard Conte is innocent... until he starts digging deeper into the story. Lee J Cobb is his editor.
With Helen Walker (detective's wife), Betty Garde, Kasia Orzazewski.
And the other writer of this simple and direct western is its co-star, Jack Nicholson; the two of them also produced this independent B movie (for Roger Corman) which runs just an hour and a quarter. We start bang in the action with (Harry) Dean Stanton's gang pulling off a stagecoach robbery, then three cowboys turn up to their shack riding through to Waco. During the night a posse of vigilantes surround the shack and Nicholson and his buddies are mistaken for part of the gang and go on the run.
Rough justice is quickly dispensed by this gang of vigilantes.
Nicholson and Cameron Mitchell get away, find farmers George Mitchell (no relation), Katherine Squire and Millie Perkins and have to steal the guy's horses to survive. Which they know is wrong, but it's do that or die.
It has good little touches, like an attempt to play chequers, and the last slow fade out is an enigmatic ending.
Photographed by Gregory Sandor and edited (uncredited) by Hellman, who also shot The Shooting back-to-back with this one, also with Nicholson.
And Clarence Greene was the other writer / producer in this independent production, released through United Artists, which contains a powerful racial text for small town America.
A little black girl falls down a well, the family report it to detective Richard Rober, a man who has talked to her is identified and caught - he's Henry Morgan. His uncle is the local business bigwig Roy Engel, tries to get him out unsuccessfully, is then harassed by two members of the missing girl's family, which ends up looking like assault... And that sets off a horrible chain reaction of false rumours and interracial violence which is really quite nasty.
But then the girl is found, and the community is united in the rescue attempts to dig her out, something of a laborious process for the film and the audience, with lots of phallic equipment being pummelled about.
Only recognisable names behind the camera are Ernest Laszlo and Dmitri Tiomkin. The sound track is amusingly awful when scenes go from having sound track to none. The copy we saw was of a dubious bootlegged nature with pretty silver track marks and ambient splodges.
Features one of those "It's quiet out here - too quiet" moments.
Christine Larson is the spunky diner lady -
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| "OK - which one of you's next?" |
Maidie Norman (Susan Slept Here, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Airport 77) and Ernest Anderson (In This Our Life; and uncredited in both Palm Beach Story and North by Northwest as railway porters) are the girl's parents.
And I'd like to think it was a final, classy touch to depict Morgan as a black man at the end!
A rather rare film now.